ABU DHABI: More than 20,000 Pakistani workers stuck in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are seeking to return home, as the Gulf Arab state tightens restrictions due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The UAE, which has reported 1,799 coronavirus cases and 10 deaths, has gradually increased curbs, including imposing a nationwide curfew, suspending passenger flights and putting Dubai in a lockdown.
A densely populated Dubai neighborhood where many South Asian blue-collar workers live has been sealed off since Mar 31, and there has been door-to-door coronavirus testing in some parts of the emirate.
Over 20,000 Pakistanis had registered since April 3 with the consulate to go home, a consulate spokesman told Reuters on Monday.
Those who had registered included some whose visas had expired, who had lost their jobs or stopped being paid by their employer as well as those who entered the country on visitor visas, he said.
Currently, more than a million Pakistanis are living and working in the Middle Eastern state, according to Pakistani diplomats.
The government was in talks with their UAE counterparts to try to arrange flights so that the stranded Pakistanis could return home, the spokesman said.
The UAE suspended all passenger flights last month, though this week airlines Emirates and Etihad said they were resuming some outbound-only services to limited destinations for those wishing to leave the UAE.
Neither airline has announced flights to Pakistan.
