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Coronavirus: Pakistan starts repatriating UAE-based nationals stranded by pandemic

UAE and other Gulf states have reported increased infections among low-income migrant workers who live in overcrowded quarters
At least four flights will be operated by PIA from Dubai on Monday, top diplomat says (AFP/File photo)

Pakistan has begun repatriating some of its citizens from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which had threatened to review labour ties with countries refusing to take back their nationals during the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The first Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight carrying 227 "stranded passengers" from Dubai and other emirates left for Islamabad on Saturday evening, Pakistan's consulate general in Dubai said in a Twitter post, according to Reuters.

More than 40,000 Pakistanis in the Gulf Arab state have registered with the consulate to return home, two UAE newspapers reported.

The Gulf News said special flights are planned to repatriate more than 3,000 passengers from the UAE to Pakistan this week.

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At least four flights will be operated by PIA from Dubai on Monday. Two flights are scheduled to Lahore and two more to Karachi. “At least 1,000 stranded passengers will be flown home on these four flights on Monday,” a top diplomat told the Gulf News.

The UAE and other Gulf states have reported increased infections among low-income migrant workers who live in overcrowded quarters. Some have moved to re-house them in shuttered schools or dedicated centres, and are trying to arrange flights to repatriate them.

On Sunday, the UAE announced 479 new cases and four more deaths, bringing its total to 6,781 cases and 41 deaths so far.

The UAE last week said it would review labour relations with states refusing to evacuate citizens, including those who have lost jobs or been put on leave, after the ambassadors of India and Pakistan said their countries were not yet ready to do so.

PIA said on its website that it would not be able to provide services for inbound flights beyond Islamabad International Airport amid a suspension of domestic flights and a lockdown in the country.

Millions of foreign workers, many from Asia, form the backbone of Gulf economies and work in sectors that have been disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.

The pandemic is also likely to disrupt the significant remittances those workers send back to their home countries.

Infections rise in Gulf states

The total infection count in the six Gulf states has risen steadily to more than 26,600, with 167 deaths, despite containment measures including halting passenger flights, curfews and in several cases locking down districts with large populations of low-income expatriate workers.

Saudi Arabia, which has the most infections and deaths among Gulf Cooperation Council states - at 9,362 and 97 - recorded a record 1,088 new cases in 24 hours. It said 83 percent of the new confirmed cases were among non-Saudi nationals.

Kuwait's 90-year-old ruler, Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, on Sunday addressed the nation to welcome back the first group of Kuwaitis that returned home under a new repatriation programme.

He urged them to comply with all isolation and quarantine guidelines given by authorities in the Gulf state, which has recorded seven deaths, including one on Sunday, and almost 2,000 cases of the infection.

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