A total of 4.13 lakh NRI Malayalees have registered to return home to Kerala, ever since the Kerala government invited registrations of Kerala expatriates who wished to return home post lockdown.
Out of this, 61,009 of them have lost their jobs. Over 9000 registrations are those of pregnant women, 10,628 those of children and 2902 are those of students.
From the United Arab Emirates region alone, over 1,50,000 Malayalees have registered to fly home to Kerala during the pandemic, as per the latest figures released by the Department of Non Resident Keralite Affairs or NORKA which is holding the registration process.
"As of 6 p.m. on Saturday, we received more than 150,000 registrations," Consul General of India in Dubai, Vipul told Gulf News on Saturday. UAE has the largest Malayalee presence outside India, with 15 lakh Keralites living and working in the country.
A quarter of them want to return after losing their jobs, he said.
"About 40% of the applicants are workers and 20% are professionals. Overall, 25% have cited job-loss as the reason for leaving the country."
About 10% of the applicants are visit /tourist visa holders who were stranded after the flight suspension and lockdown in India. The rest of the applicants include those with medical emergencies, pregnant women and students, Vipul said.
The Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the Indian Consulate in Dubai on Wednesday night began the e-registration for forming the database of their citizens wishing to fly home.
While there are Indians registering to return to various states, the Consul-General told Gulf News that 50% of the applicants were from the state of Kerala.
Keralites comprise more than one million of the 3.4 million Indians in the UAE.
Vipul however, said the missions have not yet received intimation from the Indian government about the mode of transporting the stranded citizens, the pricing of the tickets or how the COVID-19 test results of applicants would be assessed for their journey.
"There are high-level discussions going on regarding these things," he said, adding that the e-registration would be open "till the time the issue (of repatriating Indians wishing to return home) stabilises.”