Covid second wave set to wreck expatriates’ homecoming, once more

Express News Service
KOZHIKODE: Kamal, 44, is a schoolteacher in Doha. Living along with his spouse and two children for over a decade there, he usually comes dwelling throughout the annual trip — between June and August. Last yr, the novel coronavirus outbreak denied his household that pleasure for the primary time. And now, a virulent second wave of Covid is threatening a repeat.“I have to attend to the hospital needs of my aged parents back home in Karunagappally. They haven’t taken the first dose of vaccination as there is none to help,” Kamal laments. 

Last yr, he had booked an Air India Express ticket in January for journey in June however couldn’t. This yr, he’s wanting ahead to travelling on the identical ticket which has an prolonged validity until December 2021. But hovering instances and the growing restrictions in each nations make his journey unsure.Shanavaz Okay P, 33, of Purameri close to Vadakara, had returned from Dubai for his father’s pressing surgical procedure. He was supposed to return on April 30. But the UAE suspended flights from India from April 25 for 10 days, and he needed to advance the journey at a price of greater than 4 occasions the traditional flight cost. 

“The Covid outbreak affected expatriates financially. We had to distribute grocery kits to even affluent families. This time, it is going to be worse,” mentioned Rayees Ali, secretary, Qatar Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre (KMCC). “More than `6,000 has to be spent to take the Covid test in Qatar to board the flight with a negative certificate obtained within 72 hours. On arrival, another test is required and people have to undergo a seven-day home quarantine even if the result is negative. Further, Kerala is under a lockdown situation. Most importantly, expatriates fear for their jobs if they are unable to get back in time.” 

According to N Okay Kunhammed, a Loka Kerala Sabha member and patron of the Overseas Malayali Association (ORMA) in Dubai, the homecoming of expatriates is in bother.“The CBSE examination for Class 10 is in uncertainty because of the spike in cases in India. Those students can’t go home during this vacation. Further, all are apprehensive of the UAE extending the flight suspension,” he mentioned. Kunhammed added that just a few months again, expatriates returning to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar needed to spend a 14-day quarantine in Dubai which burned their pockets.“We somehow managed accommodation and food for a few of them. Travel agencies are fleecing expatriates under the cover of Covid,” he identified.

Shamna Sunil Kumar, librarian on the Noor Al Khaleej International School in Doha, mentioned these arriving in Qatar are exempted from observing quarantine if they’ve taken two doses of Covishield and accomplished 14 days after the second dose. “That means Covaxin is not approved for the time being. Do we have a choice over the vaccine in Kerala amid the rush at vaccination centres? There is no surety for an expatriate that he or she can come back in time for their jobs after going home,” she mentioned.