Migrant workers among 570 Indians brought back by 4 flights from Gulf

KOLKATA: Several hundred migrant workers — most of them engaged in construction projects in the Gulf — flew down to Kolkata on Thursday and Friday. The workers, mostly from Kuwait, were among 570 people who landed in the city from the Gulf. Though the new rules state that Indians flying in from abroad have to stay in paid quarantine, the workers were accommodated in free quarantine centres on economic consideration.
The migrant workers travelled from Kuwait City to Kolkata on two Kuwait Airways flights on Thursday evening. The first flight, KU 1613, arrived with 195 passengers at 6pm on Thursday, followed by KU-1615 that flew in with 117 passengers at 9.19pm. Most of them were construction labourers and were sent to a government-run institutional quarantine for seven days. They will have to stay in home quarantine for another week before venturing out.
Kuwait was among the first countries to put curbs on Indian carriers and Indian nationals from entering the country on March 7 in a bid to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus. India banned international flights over a fortnight later on March 22. Labourers have been in a quandary with construction coming to a halt as the country went into lockdown. They were unable to repatriate till India again opened the doors.
Before the Kuwaiti flights, Air India had operated a Vande Bharat flight from Dubai to repatriate 153 Indians at 3.06am on Thursday. At 1.02am on Friday, AI operated another Vande Bharat flight from Dammam in Saudi Arabia to fly in 105 passengers.