Saudi Arabia reopened on Thursday its land borders with the UAE, Bahrain, Jordan, and Kuwait, allowing the return of Saudi nationals to the Kingdom.
The Kingdom had closed its land borders with its three Gulf neighbors on March 7 as part of the government’s efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
Saudi embassies in the four countries announced reopening the land borders on their official Twitter accounts.
The country’s embassy in the UAE announced that starting from Thursday, Saudi citizens in the UAE who wish to return to their home country are allowed to do so through al-Batha border port without the need for prior authorization, given that they follow the Kingdom’s precautionary measures.
The Saudi embassy in Kuwait made a similar announcement, adding that immediate family members of the Saudi citizens such as husbands, wives, children, and parents, in addition to domestic workers are also allowed to return.
The embassy in Bahrain echoed the other announcements and said that Saudi citizens can return to the Kingdom through the King Fahd Causeway, a 25-kilometer-long bridge connecting Saudi Arabia to Bahrain.
The King Fahd Causeway is of economic and touristic importance for the two countries, as the annual results for 2019 showed that the number of tourists to Bahrain last year reached 11.1 million visitors. At least 9.7 million visitors traveled to Bahrain through the King Fahd Causeway.
A health spokesperson in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, stated that the arrivals will be subject to the health protocol, stating that the duration of home isolation for those coming from abroad is seven days from the date of arrival.
Most Gulf countries began opening up and easing coronavirus restrictions towards the end of May, with the UAE and Saudi Arabia leading the charge to the return to “normalcy” by fully lifting curfews in June and allowing the resumption of most activities which were previously shut down to contain the spread of COVID-19.
