UAE bans entry to travelers from Pakistan

The United Arab Emirates will bar entry to non-UAE resident travellers from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka starting on Wednesday to try to contain the spread of the coronavirus, it said on Monday.

The UAE last month banned entry to travellers from India to guard against the spread of the highly contagious Indian variant.

“Flights between the four countries will continue to allow the transport of passengers from the UAE to Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka,” the Gulf state’s National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority (NCEMA) said.

The ban includes transit flights coming from those countries. Transit flights to those countries can continue.

UAE citizens, long-term residency holders – known as “golden visa” holders – and diplomats are not included in the ban, which comes just ahead of the Eid festival celebrating the end of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan.

To enter the UAE from the four countries, people must have been in another country for at least 14 days beforehand, the NCEMA said.

However, cargo flights will continue to operate between the four countries.

The UAE civil aviation authority also called upon all travellers affected by the decision to contact the relevant airlines to reschedule their flights and ensure their safe return to their final destinations without delay. – REUTERS