Many Nepalese who work overseas have lost their jobs after the Corona outbreak. Nepal’s government stopped the international flight from March, however, saying the risk of infection with the virus has skyrocketed.
Nepalese returning home from the United Arab Emirates ( UAE) complained they did not get a ticket to Kathmandu for the scheduled flight. The government has set the fare to 1,450 Dirhams for chartered flights. At this rate, they said they didn’t receive tickets for regular flights. Source added Tickets are conveniently available at an expensive rate.
The ticket cost is around 2,200 and 3,500 Dirhams, which is not readily available, as per the source. Nepalese who have drifted back home in search of tickets say they can get as many tickets as they can in Nepalese restaurants, Nepalese grocery stores, and Nepalese UAE cargo offices.
They contend that Nepal’s government has fooled the people by saying daily flights are available.
A UAE worker reported that “the travel agency still refuses to offer standard price tickets. He said 3500 UAE Dirhams are required to issue black market tickets. How can those tickets be purchased from an average worker who can only receive a thousand Dirhams on his salary?“
When contacted by Air Arabia here, they always refuse for the tickets. Even if the ticket is 35 hundred Dhirams. We don’t have that much money. We have told everyone from the embassy but we have not been assured of getting a ticket yet.
One Nepali told, “If regular flights are allowed to operate, why should there be the condition that only 800 people arrive daily?
According to him, owing to a lack of quarantine there is no point in preventing the return of just 800 passengers from countries with regular flights.
Nepalese accused the government of causing more difficulties for the people by approving only a few flights in the commission game.
While Voltrasan, Transguard, Emirates, and other major companies based in Dubai are able to test the corona of everyone at their own expense and send them to Nepal.
Nepalese employees have been left stranded, according to NRNA UAE, because of the Nepali government’s rule of allowing only 800 people to enter the country, although it’s costly and the company is planning to send them on charter.
UAE workers say anyone whose permits have expired and whose permits have been revoked continues to pay penalties. And before this, 17 Nepalese had been unable to return home because of the non-payment of fines.
There are more than 45,000 Nepalese who would like to return to Nepal so far, according to the Nepali embassy in the UAE. About 17,000 Nepalese have returned to Nepal to date.
Similarly, Nepalese in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia have complained that they have not been able to get tickets easily due to the shortage of charter flights of Nepal Airlines. According to the office of Nepal Airlines in Riyadh, it was difficult to control the crowd as there were many Nepalese waiting to return home after registering at the Nepali Embassy in Riyadh.
