UAE residents, who have been stuck in India since April 25 due to an indefinite travel ban following the second and lethal wave of the Covid-19 outbreak, are looking forward to returning to their home-away-from-home. 

Consider the case of Shradha Salla, a reputed numerologist, tarot card reader and Vastu practitioner and a UAE resident, who have been living in Mumbai, with her two daughters, Aarna (16) and Sunehra (14), while her husband, Ajay Salla, a Dubai-based entrepreneur, is eagerly looking forward to reuniting with his family.

“We had last met in November. We’ve been eagerly looking forward to the resumption of flights. We faced a similar situation last year as well, when the Covid-19 pandemic first struck and was planning to make Dubai our second home since my husband runs a business in the emirate,” Salla told .

“In retrospect, it appears that we’ve become victims of the popular saying that history repeats itself. Last year, we’re stuck in Dubai and this time around, we’re back to square one on the other side of the Arabian Sea in Mumbai,” she added.

Salla had taken the lead last year in helping several Indian expatriates in the UAE to facilitate their return back home after the travel ban was lifted.

She has been receiving at least 10 calls a day from UAE residents, who are not reaching out to her for tarot card reading but soliciting help and expressing their anxiousness about how soon they could return to the emirates.

Similarly, Shaheen Jamal, who has been living in Dubai for the past seven years, returned to Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) in India, in February to meet her parents after two years.

The timing looked good for Shaheen, as Covid-19 cases in India were at an all-time low and the second wave of the contagion was not on the horizon.

There were no restrictions in the movement of flights and Shaheen felt it was an opportune moment to go ahead with the two-month trip with her three-year-old son in tow.

Little did she know that she would have to prolong the stay, as the travel ban was enforced from April 25.

“Usually, I travel to India twice a year to meet my parents. However, I couldn’t travel last year because of the viral outbreak. I’ve been careful about the pandemic and even abandoned my plans to travel to India till February, when the situation looked more or less back to normal. In hindsight, it proved to be a big mistake,” she told Khaleej Times.

Shaheen has not just got stuck in Srinagar, but she and her son also contracted SARS-CoV-2, which causes Covid-19.

Her infection was severe, as she is yet to have received the jab against the contagion.

To make matters worse, her return to the UAE appears uncertain.

New rules stipulate that only vaccinated residents will be allowed to return as and when flight services resume between India and the UAE.

Besides, Shaheen’s husband has recently changed his job in Dubai.

This has added to another layer of complication, as her visa status has changed.

“I’m unsure whether I need to apply for a fresh entry permit. My son has become an emotional wreck, as his father dotes on him,” she added.

Shaheen, a freelance journalist, is also feeling the heat on the work front. “Though I lost several assignments during the pandemic last year, I had managed to get some with great difficulty, and, too, have been lost as I got stuck back home.

I’m losing my mind. I’m hoping I can get back to the UAE at the earliest,” she added.

Dubai residents Jabeen and her sister Naureen, too, are worried owing to the prolonged flight suspension for a second year in a row.

Their father, a Dubai resident for the past 17 days, resigned from his job and flew back to India to see his ailing mother in Pune. He has a few days left before his UAE resident visa expires. He is also not keeping well.

Jabeen, who is married and settled in Dubai, explained her father’s deplorable plight.

“I lost my mother a few years ago and my father lived all alone in Dubai. He went back to Pune to be with his ailing mother before the travel ban was enforced. We’re feeling helpless as his residence visa expires in a few days. He suffers from an auto-immune disorder, myasthenia gravis. Our troubles compounded, as he recently dislocated his spinal disc and needs a surgical procedure, which has to wait till the flight operations resume. His travails have exacerbated, as he has no help at hand back home,” she added.

Khaleej Times: Copyright © 2017 Khaleej Times. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. ( www.Syndigate.info ).

Disclaimer: The content of this article is syndicated or provided to this website from an external third party provider. We are not responsible for, and do not control, such external websites, entities, applications or media publishers. The body of the text is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis and has not been edited in any way. Neither we nor our affiliates guarantee the accuracy of or endorse the views or opinions expressed in this article. Read our full disclaimer policy here.