india

Updated: Apr 09, 2020 20:52 IST

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday drew the attention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the plight of migrant works from the state in the United Arab Emirates caught in the coronavirus pandemic, ANI reported.

He requested Modi to take up the matter with the UAE government to ensure that the workers are taken care of.

The United Arab Emirates has recorded more than 2,000 positive cases of coronavirus and 12 deaths, according to AFP.

Follow coronavirus latest updates here.

“Out of the 2.8 million Indian migrants in UAE, 1 million are from Kerala. It is learned that the situation in Dubai is worsening. We are receiving number of complaints of inadequate isolation and quarantine facilities and apprehensions are raised about the imminent community spread of the disease,” Vijayan wrote.

“….majority of Keralites are blue collar workers and living in crowded facilities in Dubai and therefore the probability of spreading of the disease is very high…. I would request that this matter be taken up with the UAE government urgently so as to ensure adequate food, medicines, quarantine and emergency service facilities to Indian diaspora in Dubai,” the letter said.

Prime Minister Modi shares a great rapport with UAE’s Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

In August last year, he was conferred the Order of Zayed, UAE’s highest civilian award, by the Crown Prince who also expressed gratitude to his “brother” for visiting “his second home” and for his efforts to boost bilateral ties India and the UAE.

The UAE is India’s third-largest trade partner with annual bilateral trade of about $60 billion. It is also the fourth-largest exporter of crude oil to India.