E-Paper
Expats upset as Kerala insists covid-free certificate for chartered flights
Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs, V Muraldeedharan, has also opposed the state government’s move, as at least 400 chartered flights are being planned over one month.
Expatriates from Kerala are red-faced after the state government made coronavirus disease (Covid-19)-free certificate mandatory for all stranded passengers, who plan to travel by chartered flights from the Persian Gulf countries.
Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs, V Muraldeedharan, has also opposed the state government’s move, as at least 400 chartered flights are being planned over one month.
“From June 20, all private chartered flights departing to Kerala from the middle-east countries shall only carry passengers, who have been tested for Covid-19 infection and shown to be negative. A test certificate to that effect should be carried by each passenger. It applies to all flights for which consent letters were issued earlier,” said the government order, which was issued by K Elangovan, principal secretary, Kerala, on Friday.
The order cited that Kerala has a high density of population and the spread of the viral infection would lead to serious consequences, and such a decision was taken for the larger interest of people.
The latest notification came at a time when many organisations, who are working among the expatriate Indian community in the Persian Gulf nations, are busy arranging chartered flights, as there has been a spike in Covid-19 positive cases in some of these countries.
The outfits said the move was highly discriminatory, as stranded expatriates being repatriated by the Central government’s Vande Bharat mission – the biggest evacuation exercise since the then Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait in August 1990 -- do not need such a certificate.
“It’s highly unethical and discriminatory. The state government also insists the certificate should be obtained at least 48 hours before a passenger gets to board a flight. In some countries, it’s a tedious process and also a costly affair. We’ve no idea why the government is troubling people, who’re eager to return home,” said Anwar Naha, leader of the Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre, an organisation working among expatriates in the Persian Gulf.
He said many organisations are toiling hard to get the maximum number of people evacuated and such stringent conditions are hindering their efforts. “Another condition is that rates should be equivalent to ‘Vande Bharat’ tickets. Those people, who can afford, are charged more to bear the fee of those, who can’t pay for themselves. Many, who have lost their jobs, are flying back home for free. The state government isn’t doing anything but it is in a race to impose bizarre conditions,” he said.
There are at least 18 lakh people from Kerala, who are working in the Gulf nations. The state government had launched a dedicated website for expatriates, who wanted to return home, after lockdown 1:0, which expired on April 14. Over four lakh expatriates registered on the state government’s website in the first week itself, and the latest data showed that less than 40,000 arrived within a month.
The relatives of many of the stranded expatriates are worried, as at least 212 people from Kerala have died due to Covid-19 in the Gulf countries over the past two months.
Muraldeedharan said such conditions would put additional pressure on the expatriates. “Why is the state government introducing these new norms? In some countries, it’s difficult to get such a certificate within 48 hours,” he said.
Earlier, he had locked horns with the state government, alleging that it was more interested to maintain its records rather than repatriation of stranded expatriates.
