After weeks of pressure from its nationals, India announced on Monday that it had launched a mass repatriation plan. However, the move drew immediate criticism because it expects all but those desperately in need of evacuation to pay for their journey and a mandatory two-week quarantine once they get home.
The plan suggests that up to 200,000 stranded Indians will be returned. Many hundreds of thousands more work across the [Gulf] region, along with Pakistanis, Sri Lankans, Nepalese, Bangladeshi Sudanese and Arab workers, including Egyptians, taking almost all unskilled roles in the gas and oil producing states, and also filling some skilled positions.
