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Covid-19: UAE ambassador disappointed as country remains on UK ‘red list’

London - The envoy hopes families and friends separated by the pandemic will reunite as soon as possible.

The UAE ambassador to the UK said he was disappointed at Britain’s decision to retain the UAE on its travel red list, despite its successful vaccination and testing programmes.

Ambassador Mansoor Abulhoul took to Twitter on Friday, and said, “Disappointing to see that the UAE has remained on the UK's red travel list. We have best-in-class health and safety infrastructure to protect visitors and residents.”

He added, “The UAE is among the top countries in the world for vaccinations and testing and we have strict controls to guard against troubling variants. The UAE has arranged bespoke travel arrangements with other countries.”

Portugal removed from UK 'green list'

Transport Minister Grant Shapps said on Thursday that the UK would be expanding its travel ban list due to fears of Covid-19 variants. Portugal was removed from the restriction-free travel green list; however, no new countries were added to it.

Abulhoul said, “I hope families and friends separated by Covid-19 will reunite as soon as possible and resume other crucial business and travel links.”

The envoy had expressed his displeasure over Britain’s decision to retain UAE in the red list in a series of tweets last month as well. The announcement means British expatriates travelling from the UAE are required to stay in a government-mandated hotel for 10 days at a cost of a little over Dh 9,000 per adult.

Bahrain, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Costa Rica, Sudan, Trinidad and Tobago and Afghanistan were added to the red list on May 3. There are only 11 countries and territories on UK’s green list, including Israel, Singapore and New Zealand.

dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com