Over 13K Afghan expats repatriated

dubai — Over 13,000 Afghan expats who were stranded in the UAE because of Covid-related restrictions have been repatriated till date, the Afghan Consul-General Masood Azizi told Khaleej Times.

The diplomat said Afghanistan is one of the first countries to fly out their stranded citizens in such huge numbers.

“We value our great friendship with the UAE, and we do not want to be a burden to this country when it is fighting this global pandemic.”

Azizi said with people living in clustered accommodations where 15 to 20 people share a room, the UAE government has had to deal with emerging safety concerns.

“We believe it is our responsibility to repatriate our citizens and ease the burden on the UAE, hence, the prompt decision by the Afghan government to fly our citizens back home,” he said.

There are more than 150,000 Afghan nationals living in the UAE.

Azizi said among the first to be

READY TO GO: Afghan consul-General Masood Azizi (right) meets some of the expats before they departed from the UAE.

evacuated were 63 transit passengers, who were stuck at the Dubai International Airport after the UAE stopped air travel to stop the spread of coronavirus.

“A chartered flight sent by Afghanistan evacuated all passengers as early as March 27,” the envoy said. A total of 58 Afghan prisoners, who were released by the UAE authorities, were also repatriated in the last few weeks.

Helping workers

The bigger challenge for the mission was having to deal with thousands of Afghan workers who wanted to go home, as they were either laid off or on visit visas. “There were hundreds of Afghanis who came to the UAE on visit visas and also on expired documents. With the Covidrestrictions, many were unable to find jobs. Some were sleeping in car parks without any means to sustain themselves,” said the consul-general.

The diplomat said the mission immediately activated a citizen protection programme and opened a 24-hour help desk for people to register to go back home.

“There were different categories of people. Some had money to buy tickets and wanted to go. There were hundreds who did not have any money and wanted to leave. Some had expired passports.” Azizi said the mission began a large-scale expatriation process after collecting data.

He said over 500 Afghan workers were sent home free of cost, while thousands flew back on commercial flights. “The process is ongoing. A total of 177 people flew home on May 1 and, on May 3, another 174 people returned to Afghanistan.”