Coronavirus: dozens of UAE residents stranded overseas allowed to return home

Emirates says more UAE residents could be cleared for entry on Thursday evening

Some UAE residents have been permitted to enter Dubai during the suspension of passenger flights into and out of the country enforced to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Courtesy: Reuters

Dozens of UAE residents left stranded overseas after passenger flights were suspended this week have been allowed to return to the country.

At least 48 travellers have already been cleared to enter the UAE - with more people due to be permitted to fly to Dubai throughout Thursday evening - thanks to the efforts of immigration authorities, police and consular officials in tandem with Emirates Airline.

Officials have been working to find solutions for people left in limbo after travel and border restrictions were imposed to slow the spread of coronavirus.

Travellers are tested for Covid-19  and quarantined for 14-days in a specified hotel on arrival.

"To date, 48 UAE residents have been allowed entry, and more are expected to be cleared tonight (Thursday)," an Emirates spokeswoman told The National.

“All stranded passengers have to undergo Covid-19 testing and UAE residents that are allowed entry will be subject to a 14-day quarantine at designated hotels as directed by the local health authorities.”

She said the airline was working with “local immigration authorities, Dubai Police and co-ordinating efforts with several consulates and embassies to find repatriation solutions or facilitate special dispensations for entry into the UAE to help stranded passengers at Dubai International Airport.”

The spokeswoman said that passengers were provided with hotel facilities at Dubai International Airport where possible, access to rest areas in designated lounges and meals while they wait to be processed for entry.

The government had announced that only Emiratis would be allowed to enter the country after March 19.

About nine Indian students remain in quarantine in the Dubai International Hotel inside the airport.

The students were cleared to fly to Dubai from the UK and US over the past week after they received a letter from UAE embassies overseas.

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In some cases, worried parents have requested if the students could complete the quarantine at home.

“I can understand that parents are anxious but the students are now on UAE soil so they should be patient,” said Mr Vipul, India’s Consul General in Dubai.

“There are some students who have been in the airport for 96 hours but they are being looked after in the hotel. Their Covid-19 results are awaited and local authorities are handling this and trying their best to help.”

In a separate case, 18 Indians are stuck in the transit area of Dubai Airport, of whom 15 have been sleeping on the floor and on chairs for the past week.

They were travelling home via Dubai but have been unable to return once borders shut to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

“These 18 Indians stranded at the airport want to go back to India but under the current circumstances it is proving difficult to arrange for this,” Mr Vipul said.

“We are in touch with authorities in India and the UAE. They are being given financial help so they can purchase food inside the airport.”

Of more than 20 Indians stranded in the transit area since early this week, six have departed on flights to the US.

The passengers had arrived in Dubai on March 18 from European nations including Hungary, Spain and Portugal.

The men could not board connecting flights to India because the countries were among 38 nations from which India suspended entry on March 18.

An elderly couple is among passengers who arrived in Dubai from Sydney over the weekend but missed the last flight home before New Delhi suspended all international commercial passenger aircraft from March 22.

“Is there no one who can help us to either leave the airport or to go back home?” said Deepak Gupta, among the travellers stranded in the airport.

“I understand India has shut down but some arrangements can be made for us. How long will we stay in transit?”