Saudi Plans to Impose Penalties, Travel Ban on Its Citizens For Visiting ‘Red List’ Countries

This move has been taken by the Saudi Kingdom to curb the spread of coronavirus and its new variants, state news agency SPA said on Tuesday.

Updated: July 27, 2021 9:39 PM IST

By India.com News Desk | Edited by Manmath Nayak

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London: Taking stringent measures, Saudi Arabia on Tuesday said it will impose a three-year travel ban on citizens travelling to countries which are on the kingdom’s ‘red list’ scanner. This move has been taken by the Saudi Kingdom to curb the spread of coronavirus and its new variants, state news agency SPA said on Tuesday.

Citing an unnamed interior ministry official as saying, the news agency said that some Saudi citizens, who in May were allowed to travel abroad without prior permission from authorities for the first time since March 2020, had violated travel regulations.

As per the updates from the official, any citizen who is proven to be involved in travel guideline violation will be subject to legal accountability and heavy penalties upon their return, and will be banned from travel for three years.

In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, Saudi Arabia has banned travel to a number of countries including Afghanistan, Argentina, Brazil, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Lebanon, Pakistan, South Africa, Turkey, Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates.

The official, however, said the Ministry of Interior has stressed that citizens are still banned from travelling directly to these states or any other that has yet to control the pandemic or where the new strains have spread.

With a population of some 30 million, Saudi on Tuesday recorded 1,379 new COVID-19 infections, bringing its total to 520,774 cases and 8,189 deaths. It saw daily infections fall from a peak above 4,000 in June 2020 to below the 100 mark in early January.

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