Saudi Arabia announced a three-year travel ban on citizens of COVID19 Red List countries visiting the Kingdom, including India and Severe sanctions.
"Traveling to a prohibited country is clearly a violation of COVID19-related travel restrictions and the Kingdom's latest instructions," Gulf News quoted a report from the state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA) on Tuesday.
The SPA report stated that officials from the Ministry of Interior of Saudi Arabia warned Saudi citizens not to travel to countries/regions that have recently been listed as no travel because the cases of COVID19 and its variants are increasing in these countries/regions. The countries on the
Red List includes the United Arab Emirates, Libya, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Iran, Turkey, Armenia, Ethiopia, Somalia, Congo, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Belarus, India and Vietnam.
According to the Press Trust News Agency of India, the SPA cited sources as saying that there were reports that some citizens went to banned countries in violation of official instructions.
According to the PTI news agency, those who violate the travel ban will be held liable and imposed a severe fine, the source said, adding that those found to have violated the travel ban will be banned from travelling abroad for three years.
The Ministry of Health urges citizens not to travel directly or indirectly to countries on the red list where the pandemic has not been controlled and cases of variants of the coronavirus have increased.
The Ministry also urges citizens to proceed with caution, stay away from sprawling or unstable areas, and take all precautions regardless of destination.