DUBAI: Indian missions in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have opened e-registration for expats wishing to travel back home amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it was reported on Thursday.
In a Wednesday nigh night tweet, the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi announced the details of data collection through the website of the Indian Consulate in Dubai, reports Gulf News.
In the notice, the mission stated: “All Indian nationals in the UAE are hereby informed that the Embassy of India, Abu Dhabi and the Consulate General of India, Dubai, have uploaded a form for (the) collection of data to create a database of Indians who wish to travel back to India under COVID-19 situation.”
But Minutes after posting the tweet, the mission deleted it citing “technical issues” as some users were having trouble accessing the page.
In the early hours of Thursday morning, the Consulate General of India in Dubai reposted the link, warning that it may take “some time for the page to load due to high traffic”.
Several Indians in the UAE, including pregnant women, elderly patients, stranded visit visa holders and those who lost jobs, have been requesting their government to help them fly back home during the travel restrictions and lockdown imposed to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
As first reported by Gulf News on Monday, the Indian missions were readying to compile the details of those wishing to return home following reports from India that the Indian government was making preparations to receive its citizens from abroad.
The missions were awaiting more clarifications from New Delhi regarding the details that need to be collected and “some more issues” that needed to be clarified, Indian Ambassador to the UAE Pavan Kapoor had told Gulf News on Monday.