Indian Consulate in Dubai urges workers not to throng mission

Dubai: The Indian Consulate in Dubai has appealed to workers seeking repatriation during the COVID-19 pandemic not to throng the mission for air tickets, a media report said on Friday.

Thousands of workers desperate to fly home have been queuing up at the premises of the mission in the past few days, Consul General of India in Dubai Vipul told Gulf News on Thursday evening while reiterating his appeal to community members to refrain from doing so. However, a large number of workers continued to visit the consulate in the past few days, he said. "Around 1,500 to 2,000 people have been visiting the consulate these days. The day after the Eid holidays, there were around 4,000 people."

In a video message released on Monday evening, Vipul had appealed to the community, especially workers not to visit the mission for tickets.

He said the consulate was accepting forms from them though the mission had involved community members so that it acts in full honesty and transparency in picking up needy people from among those who had registered for repatriation through its website. Vipul added that congregating on the premises of the Consulate was not right both from the perspective of law and social distancing that needs to followed in view of COVID-19.

He emphasised that the passengers for repatriation are selected from those who have registered online.

According to the consulate, around 6,000 passengers out of the 14,000 people repatriated from Dubai since May 7 have been workers in distress, reports Gulf News.

A couple of companies have flown their employees and their families on charter flights too.