Pakistani expats await family reunions as Saudi readies to lift flight ban

RIYADH: Syed Faiz Ahmad says he’s worried about the fate of two of his relatives who traveled to Pakistan for emergency reasons but were left stranded there after Saudi Arabia suspended flights to and from the Kingdom in the wake of the global coronavirus pandemic.

“One went to help his ailing father, leaving his family behind in Riyadh. But he got stuck. His wife and two children are all alone here and are desperately waiting for him to return, especially during this month of Ramadan,” Ahmad, a Pakistani expatriate residing in the Kingdom, told Arab News.

He is one of several expatriates in the Kingdom who face an agonizing wait on relatives stranded in their homelands by flight suspensions, particularly during Ramadan when most families look forward to gatherings around the iftar table.

Every Ramadan, with sunset nearing, families sit together during iftar to break their dawn-to-dusk fast, giving everyone a chance to catch up during the month-long festivity culminating in Eid Al-Fitr.

However, many expats are anxiously watching airline schedules as countries ease travel curbs, opening the way for family reunions.

International flights suspended due to coronavirus travel restrictions will resume on May 17, Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority GACA said in a circular.

Anwar Pasha Ansari, an Indian expatriate working in Jeddah, told Arab News that his daughter Heba Anwar is stranded in India.

“No father and mother should go through this agony,” he said.

Ansari said that his daughter left Jeddah to appear for her bachelor’s final exam in New Delhi, hoping to rejoin her family to celebrate Eid last year. “But perhaps destiny was preparing another fate,” he said.

Ansari said that travel bans “brought the curtain down for all parents like us whose children were held up in India.”
He added: “To add insult to injury, all students were asked to vacate their hostel and make their own living arrangements, which was a nightmare for parents working overseas.”

With no end to travel restrictions in sight, Ansari’s daughter planned to travel to Saudi Arabia via the UAE after spending 14 days in Dubai.
Ansari said that when his daughter arrived in Dubai in January, they were elated at the prospect of reuniting with her.

But with only three days left of her quarantine, a temporary traveling restriction from Dubai to Saudi Arabia came into force, and all hope was gone. “Heba spent a substantial time hoping against hope that flights would be resumed and checking any news pertaining to flight resumption to Saudi Arabia,” said Anwar. “She was only a couple of hours away from us.”

Finally, after all options were exhausted, Heba was forced to return to India, bravely telling her parents: “Papa and mummy, stay well, this phase will pass, too.”

Ansari’s story will be familiar to thousands separated from their children as the coronavirus pandemic challenges everyone’s patience, endurance and capacity to endure the hardships of separation.

Technology and video apps help but are not enough to bridge the gap as families face even more time apart.
Raafat Aoun, a Lebanese expat working in the Kingdom, told Arab News: “The closure of flights has affected many expat families. My brother-in-law had to travel to Beirut to attend to an emergency. Now he finds himself in a very difficult situation as he is stuck there, and his wife and four young children are all alone in Jeddah.”

Aoun said that his brother-in-law had been stranded for more than three months. “I am supporting them and extending them all the help I can. But this festive season is becoming very difficult for me, too. I hope and pray flights resume soon so that my brother-in-law can return to his family.”

There are nearly 1.06 million Pakistanis residing in the Kingdom with a majority working in unskilled sectors such as construction.