More than half million expats prepare to leave UAE

ABU DHABI, June 21 (YPA) – The numbers of Indians and Pakistanis who have registered requests to leave the UAE and return to their country have exceeded 510,000 so far, according to figures disclosed by the Indian and Pakistani embassies in Abu Dhabi.

The Indian embassy in the UAE revealed that 90 thousand Indians in the country will return by the end of June to India, after the governments of the two countries agreed to more travel trips between them, according to the Gulf newspaper.

The total number of Indians who registered electronically to return to their country amounted to 450,000, representing about 15 percent of the total Indians in the UAE, who numbered approximately three million, the Indian embassy added.

These requests were registered through the embassy in Abu Dhabi and the consulate in Dubai.

For its part, the Pakistani embassy in Abu Dhabi said on June 11 that it plans to return more than 10 thousand Pakistanis stranded because of Corona in the UAE through 46 flights.

This came after the repatriation of about 20,400 Pakistanis since the evacuation began, out of the 60,000 individuals registered in the UAE.

This total number of those wishing to return from the UAE, from Indians and Pakistanis only (excluding other nationalities), is about 5 percent of the population of the UAE amounting about 10 million people according to the latest statistics.

Observers say most of the returnees are from low-income workers.

Evictions and travel began about a month ago, and flights are operated to a number of destinations to organize the returnee cohorts.

YPA