Saudi Arabia eases restrictions on international travel this Tuesday
Saudi Arabia has announced that it will lift restrictions on international travel starting Tuesday, six months after they were imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Arab News. The desert kingdom will end all air, land and sea transport restrictions "after 1 January" next year, authorities have said, on a specific date to be announced in December. Internal connections will be restored and pilgrimages to the Umrah will gradually resume. "The specific date for the lifting of the suspension will be announced 30 days before the date of 1 January 2021 and the Ministry of Health will put in place the requirements and preventive health measures for passengers at airports, ports and stations", the official agency SPA has reported.
Citizens of the Gulf States and non-Saudi nationals with residence permits or "iqama" visitor visas will be able to enter Saudi Arabia from 15 September provided they have tested negative for the coronavirus within the previous 48 hours. Other "exceptional categories", such as government and military employees, embassy workers and people requiring medical treatment, will also be able to enter and leave the country from Tuesday.
Young Saudis studying abroad can return, as exceptions also cover scholarship students and trainees in medical scholarship programmes whose studies or training require travel to other countries. For Jawaher Abdulattif, a student from Jeddah, the re-establishment of connections is very good news. "I have been accepted to a university in the Netherlands and have had to stay indoors for months, but now I can finally go to my new destination," he told Arab News. "It was a surprise. I can finally start to organise my flight and begin my studies". Families separated by confinement can also travel to be reunited with their loved ones as the authorities have included them in humanitarian cases. According to the latest official data, Saudi Arabia has so far recorded 325,651 cases of coronavirus and 4,268 deaths.
