Thousands prepare as the next wave of UAE repatriation flights to India begins
A new wave of repatriation flights from the UAE to India was expected to start this week.
About 14,000 Indian citizens will board 81 chartered planes as part of the second phase of the effort to return people home.
The first flight will leave for New Delhi from Abu Dhabi today.
More than 50 of the flights are bound for Kerala, while other destinations on the itinerary include Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.
There has been a huge demand for the repatriation service, with a reported 350,000 citizens applying for help to return home, according to Indian embassy officials.
That is more than a tenth of the 3.4 million-strong Indian community in the UAE, which is the largest outside India itself.
The country has been under lockdown since March 24, when the government in New Delhi grounded international and domestic flights and stopped train services between states.
The restrictions were extended until May 31. However, a limited number of domestic flights was permitted by India’s civil aviation authorities yesterday.
Travellers who returned on repatriation flights have been placed in 14-day quarantine in hotels.
About 6,000 Indians have so far left the UAE since the evacuation programme began on May 7. This second phase of repatriations will run for two weeks, from May 26 to June 8.
Those seeking to return to India included people who were in the UAE on tourist visas seeking work, as well as others returning home after losing their jobs.
But the consul general of India in Dubai said some of the 350,000 people who had registered included families who wanted to fly back for a holiday, as well as others who were going home to seek medical treatment.
Consul general Vipul said many have also had second thoughts, with less than a third accepting their places on board repatriation planes out of the UAE.
He said some people also applied thinking the tickets were free of charge.
About 170 inmates who had been deported from jails across the UAE after completing their sentences have become part of the first and second repatriation waves.
Dozens of pregnant women were flown home on a flight from Dubai to Kochi.
The 75 mothers-to-be were accompanied by medical staff, who were on hand to offer assistance if needed.