The Indian government announced on Monday that it would begin bringing back Indians stuck abroad due to the coronavirus pandemic from May 7. This entails repatriating lakhs of people stranded across the globe in phases. The colossal task would be made possible by sequestering naval ships and arranging for chartered flights. All evacuees will have to spend 14 days in quarantine upon their return to India.
The Indian consulate in Dubai has been swamped with over two lakh applications from Indians who wish to return home. Two special flights will operate from the UAE to India on Thursday. One flight will operate from Abu Dhabi to Kochi and another from Dubai to Kozhikode. People with medical exigencies, the elderly and the pregnant would be given priority. Expenses regarding tickets and other facilities will have to be borne by the passengers. The cost of the airline tickets is expected to be double the usual cost, especially since safety measures and social distancing norms will have to be followed within the aircraft. More flights will operate on a regular, if not daily, basis to various destinations in India.
The petro-rich Gulf is dependent on the cheap labour provided by a workforce of crores of foreigners, mainly from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal. The UAE is home to an Indian community of more than thirty lakh people, who form roughly 30% of the Emirates’ population.
Flights are also being arranged to evacuate Indians from the US, UK, Bangladesh, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines. On average, around 2000 people will be brought back to the country every day for a week.
Earlier on Monday, three Indian Navy ships had set off to Maldives and Dubai to evacuate Indians.