The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has announced a three-year travel ban and huge penalties for those citizens who visit countries that are on the nation's 'red list'.
Saudi Arabia's red list comprises countries such as India, Indonesia, UAE, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Iran, Turkey, Armenia etc.
The countries placed in the Saudi Kingdom's red list are areas that the government deems as areas of high COVID-19 infections.
Key Highlights
•Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry on July 27, 2021 warned its citizens against traveling to red list countries.
•The Ministry informed that travelling to the banned countries is an obvious violation of COVID-19 related travel restrictions and the Kingdom's updated instructions.
•The warning came as the Kingdom recorded 10 new COVID-19-linked deaths from the delta variant of the SARS-CoV-2, also known as B.1.617.2.
•Saudi Arabia has also banned air travel to and from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Vietnam and Ethiopia due to the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant.
Which countries come under Saudi Arabia's red list?
Saudi Arabia's Red List of Countries
Afghanistan
Armenia
Belarus
Congo
Ethiopia
Iran
India
Lebanon
Libya
Somalia
Syria
Turkey
UAE
Venezuela
Vietnam
Yemen
Why are these countries on Saudi Arabia's red list?
These countries have been listed on Saudi Arabia's red list of countries as, as per the kingdom, the pandemic has yet not been controlled in these nations and there is a surge in cases of mutated strains of coronavirus.
ImpactSaudi Arabian citizens will not be allowed to travel directly or indirectly to the red-list countries. The Saudi Ministry has urged its citizens to exercise caution and stay away from areas where there is instability or where the virus is spreading and take all precautionary measures regardless of their destination. |
Background
Saudi Arabia's total coronavirus tally stood at 520,774 on July 27, 2021, which includes 11,136 active cases and 8,189 deaths.
There have been reports of Saudi Arabian citizens travelling to the banned countries in violation of the instructions issued by official authorities and this has forced the nation to come up with harsh penalties.
The nation had barred foreign nationals from participating in the Hajj pilgrimage this time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Only citizens and residents of Saudi Arabia were allowed to attend.
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