Saudi Arabian citizens visiting 'red list' countries, including India may face three-year travel ban

Saudi Arabia will reportedly impose a three-year travel ban on citizens traveling to countries on the kingdom’s ‘red list’ with the objective of curbing the spread of coronavirus and its new variants.

The state news agency SPA reported that an unnamed interior ministry official as saying 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.

The official said, “Anyone who is proven to be involved will be subject to legal accountability and heavy penalties upon their return, and will be banned from traveling for three years,”

Saudi Arabia has banned travel or transit 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 said, “The Ministry of Interior stresses that citizens are still banned from traveling directly or via another country to these states or any other that have yet to control the pandemic or where the new strains have spread,”