Saudi: Three-year travel ban for citizens visiting 'red list' countries
(Sourced from PTI)
Saudi Arabia has announced a three-year travel ban and hefty penalties on citizens who visit countries on the Kingdom's COVID-19 red list, including India. "Traveling to the banned countries is an obvious violation of COVID-19 related travel restrictions and the Kingdom's updated instructions," the Gulf News on Tuesday quoted a report by the state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA) as saying.
An official at the Saudi Ministry of Interior has warned Saudi citizens against traveling to countries that have been put on the no-travel list recently as these nations are currently witnessing a surge in cases of COVID-19 and its variants. The red-list countries include the UAE, Libya, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Iran, Turkey, Armenia, Ethiopia, Somalia, Congo, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Belarus, India, and Vietnam.
The source, quoted by the SPA, said there are reports about citizens traveling to the banned countries in violation of the instructions issued by official authorities. Those who violate the travel ban will be held accountable and slapped with heavy penalties, the source said, adding that those who are found to have violated the instructions would be banned from traveling abroad for three years.
The pandemic has not yet been controlled and there is a surge in cases of mutated strains of coronavirus in red-list countries. The ministry urged citizens to exercise caution and take all precautionary measures regardless of their destination. As of Tuesday, the Kingdom's coronavirus tally stands at 5,20,774, including 11,136 active cases, while the total death toll was at 8,189.
