Coronavirus: undergrad reunited with parents in Dubai ahead of Eid

Afaf Zafirah Amin said she had no family in Canada and feared spending Eid alone

Afaf Zafirah Amin studies at a university in Montreal, Canada. Courtesy: Ms Amin

A UAE undergraduate studying overseas has told of her relief at being reunited with her parents in Dubai in time for Eid.

Afaf Amin, 20, was flown back to the country from Canada via the UK on board a special flight arranged by the Emirates government.

The Bangladeshi student was given the green light to return on May 4 but soon found there were no direct flights from Canada to the UAE.

Instead, her father managed to book her an airfare to the UK, where Ms Amin was able to join a connecting flight bringing other students back to Dubai.

“My dad was closely following my situation,” Ms Amin said. “He got in contact with a travel agent in Abu Dhabi who was working with the government.

“He told us that they were arranging a cargo flight that was coming from London.

“They were taking a quota of students who are UAE residents and were stranded there.”

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, governments around the world have been forced to ground international and domestic flights to contain its spread.

The decision inevitably led to some family members becoming separated, with no immediate option of returning home.

On April 30, UAE authorities announced university students were being given priority to return, along with key workers such as medics and teachers.

However, some of those who have received official approval to come back still have to wait for commercial flights to resume operations.

Ms Amin, who is studying economics and political science at McGill University in Montreal, arrived back in the UAE on May 7.

She is now undergoing a mandatory 15-day quarantine at a hotel but should be free to join her family just in time for Eid celebrations.

"Thinking that I would have to celebrate Eid on my own was very depressing," Ms Amin told The National.

“My sister, who studies in the UK, had managed to arrive in Dubai just two hours before the entry of UAE residents was suspended on March 19.

“My whole family was together in Dubai and I was all alone in Canada. I don’t have any family there.”

Ms Amin also revealed that student life in Canada was becoming increasingly tough financially.

She said the cost for student housing was exceeding her budget, increasing her need return back to the UAE quickly.

“My university was very supportive in terms of financial aid, but they had a lot of students who were affected,” she said.

“My parents were fine with sending me money, but in the middle it got difficult for them to do that because my father owns a travel agency and his business was really affected by the pandemic.

“My mother is a vice principal for a school in Dubai and she was the one who was sustaining me and my sister.

“I consider myself extremely lucky. The UAE authorities have been really kind to me since the moment I landed.

“They are keeping me at a 5-star hotel for quarantine and they are providing all my meals and daily health check-ups.”