Don't bring restricted medicines to UAE, Indian workers told

Khaleej times
December 21, 2017

Dubai, Dec 21: Indian missions in the UAE have urged blue-collared workers to completely refrain from bringing medicines that are restricted in the UAE. Often Indian workers are detained for possession of illegal drugs, especially sleeping pills or painkillers, which don't have a prescription that has been attested by the UAE Embassy in India.

Speaking to a gathering of 400 workers, Indian Ambassador to the UAE Navdeep Singh Suri urged them to take care of their health, keep their personal documents safe and register themselves on the e-migrate system, which would safeguard them from fraudulent visa agents.

He was speaking at the Petron Workers Accommodation in Dubai Investment Park on Tuesday. The event was organised by Indian Workers Resource Centre (IWRC) and was also attended by officials from the Indian Consulate and social workers.

"The Indian missions have the best interests of all Indian nationals in the UAE, we are here in the service of all Indians," the ambassador said. Suri also stressed that the Indian passport is a very valuable document, and they must keep it close at all times. Indian diplomatic missions visit various workers camps in the UAE every 10-15 days, according to Suri, where issues of labourers are addressed.

He also urged them to save the IWRC hotline number 800INDIA (80046342) on their phones and not avail visa services from unauthorised agents.

Restricted medicines

Social workers and IWRC volunteers stressed that the workers should cross-check the list of medicines that have restricted entry into the UAE on the Indian Consulate and Embassy websites.

Anish Choudhary, manager of IWRC, said: "Workers need to be educated about the risks of bringing medicines into the UAE. Often, labourers accept sealed boxes and packages from unscrupulous agents or unknowing family members. They must practise due diligence while accepting packages."

In an earlier interview with Khaleej Times, Consul-General of India to Dubai Vipul confirmed that as of mid-2017, there were 90 Indian nationals in Al Aweer Central Jail for drug-related cases. "We keep getting cases wherein Indians who come here get caught at the airport with restricted medicines," he said.

The UAE has a very strict, zero-tolerance anti-drugs policy and conducts thorough searches at airports using the highly sensitive equipment.

Vipul added: "It is very difficult to ascertain an exact number, as local authorities don't distinguish between drugs and medical cases. Furthermore, it is not just workers who have been detained; people in all segments of the society have been arrested for possession of illegal medicines, especially tramadol." A synthetic opioid painkiller, tramadol was among nearly 400 drugs the UAE banned in 2010 for their addictive nature.

Anish stated that men need to always take care of their luggage in airports and not accept bags and packets from unknown people. In case they want to bring medicines, they must get their prescription attested by the UAE Embassy in India. As part of the awareness drive, Anish also spoke to the workers about phone scams, financial scams, health and welfare and identity theft.

Kusum Dutta, a social worker at the event, said: "People who bring restrictive medicines are not aware that it is illegal, and could get them into legal trouble. They must especially refrain from carrying painkillers and sleeping pills."

Meanwhile, A Vidyarthy, manager of Petron Emirates Contracting and Manufacturing Co. LLC, said: "Our ambassador has explained several things to the labourers. Especially made them aware of their basic rights and encouraged them to come forward to discuss their problems."

Sumathi Vasudev, consul (consular and labour affairs), said: "We organise these awareness camps on a regular basis and our main intention is to raise awareness and inform workers that they can approach us, especially through the IWRC hotline and the app Madad (http://www.madad.gov.in/)."

Prescription drugs advisory

> A doctor's prescription should be carried along with any medication that is brought into the country. It is not permitted to bring more than three month's supplies of medicine, as per guidelines of the health ministry.

> Do also keep in mind that medicines can be carried in your checked in luggage, but if one needs medicines during the flight, they can be placed in the hand luggage, provided one has documentary evidence.

> The health and concerned entities in the country place the drug safety as a top priority and take a series of precautionary measures regarding any involvement in this type of crimes.

> The UAE health authorities also follow the warning circular updates issued by the world health agencies such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency.

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News Network
November 12,2024

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The Palestinian Hamas resistance movement says its fighters have killed at least 20 Israeli soldiers in northern parts of the besieged Gaza Strip in just two days, in retaliation for the occupying regime’s genocidal war on the Palestinian territory.

In a statement on Monday evening, Hamas said that fighters of its military wing, al-Qassam Brigades, “killed at least five occupation soldiers” in northern parts of the coastal territory earlier in the day.

It added that Hamas fighters also killed 15 Israeli soldiers in the war-ravaged region on Sunday.

The resistance movement’s “qualitative operation … confirms once again the failure of the criminal Zionist entity to suppress and eradicate the Palestinian resistance, which continues to direct qualitative strikes against its terrorist soldiers,” Hamas further said on its Telegram channel.

Palestinians have increased their resistance operations in the face of intensified Israeli aggression in northern Gaza that has claimed the lives of more than 1,000 over the past weeks.

“Our valiant resistance is waging a war of attrition with the criminal enemy, inflicting daily losses on its soldiers and vehicles, and all of [Israeli prime minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s bets and dreams of achieving any of his goals are failing,” the Gaza-based resistance movement added.

Hamas also vowed that Israel’s ongoing crimes and aggression against Gaza would be met with increased resistance and painful strikes, which will continue until the aggression against Palestinians ends and the regime fully withdraws from the blockaded territory.

As the war in Gaza enters its 14th month, the Health Ministry reports that Israeli attacks have killed at least 43,603 Palestinians and wounded 102,929 others.

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News Network
November 13,2024

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Beirut: The Israeli army on Tuesday continued to launch attacks against civilians in Lebanon, targeting them in several areas without prior evacuation warnings.

However, 13 airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs in the space of only three hours were preceded by evacuation warnings.

The attacks caused no injuries but resulted in widespread destruction of residential buildings and commercial, medical and educational centers.

The airstrikes in southern Lebanon and Bekaa region, reaching Akkar in Lebanon’s far north, erased any hope of a near-term ceasefire settlement.

The strikes were accompanied by an announcement on Israel’s Channel 14 that “the Israeli army has expanded its operations in southern Lebanon to areas it had not reached since the beginning of the ground operation.”

About 50 days have passed since Israel intensified its hostile operations in Lebanon targeting Hezbollah. The death toll from these confrontations and attacks has passed 3,200, with more than 14,000 wounded.

For the first time, an airstrike targeted a mountainous area between Baalchmay and Aabadiyeh on the road leading to Aley, destroying a building housing displaced people.

The mayor of Baalchmay, Adham Al-Danaf, confirmed that “the airstrike targeted a residential building in the Dhour Aabadiyeh area.”

The initial toll from the Ministry of Health showed “five people killed and two injured.”

The raids that targeted Beirut’s southern suburbs for the first time in the morning, unlike nightly raids before, caused huge destruction. Those who evacuated their homes after Israeli warnings, used their phones to record the collapse of empty buildings in Sfeir, Haret Hreik, Bir Al-Abed, Mrayjeh, Laylaki and Hadath.

Israeli warplanes also targeted Tyre, where a strike on a building killed three people and injured many others, while a raid on Tefahta killed a man identified as Kifah Khalil and his family.

Attacks were widespread, with Yater and Zebqine subject to artillery shelling, a civilian being killed in Hermel, and further attacks on Bouday and an area between the towns of Srifa and Arsoun.

A raid on the town of Siddiqin killed two people and injured several others, while an attack on the Mechref farm led to one fatality and multiple injuries.

The search for those missing after an Israeli raid on the town of Ain Yaacoub in Akkar, in the northernmost part of Lebanon, continued until dawn.

During the operation, 14 bodies were retrieved, identified as those of residents displaced from the town of Arabsalim in the Iqlim Al-Tuffah area of the south, along with members of a Syrian family, a mother and three of her children. Additionally, there were 10 people in critical condition.

The targeted residence belongs to a Lebanese citizen, Hussein Hashim, who is reported to be a member of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party.

An airstrike on the town of Saksakiyeh in the Sidon region on Monday night resulted in yet another tragedy.

It appeared that the intended target was the Shoumer family, who just days before lost Hussein Amin Shoumer and his two sisters in a drone strike near Al-Awali River.

Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee issued additional evacuation warnings for towns in the southern region along the Litani River, which, according to estimates from the mayors, are currently 90 percent uninhabited.

In the meantime, Hezbollah announced its continued efforts to “combat the intrusions of Israeli forces and to strike military installations and towns in the north.”

Hezbollah said in a statement that it confronted “an Israeli Hermes 450 drone in the airspace of Nabatieh and forced it to leave Lebanese airspace.”

The party also announced that it targeted “Kfar Blum settlement with a rocket salvo.”

On the Israeli side, air raid sirens sounded in areas of Upper and Western Galilee and in the town of Kiryat Shmona and its surroundings.

The Israeli army confirmed that “a drone exploded in Nesher, east of Haifa, without activating the air raid sirens,” and that “a drone launched from Lebanon crashed into a school in Gesher HaZiv, north of Nahariya.”

Israel’s Channel 13 reported the Israeli military’s assessment regarding Hezbollah’s military strength, claiming that the group currently possesses approximately 100 precision missiles, thousands of artillery shells, and hundreds of rockets. Additionally, it was highlighted that “there are around 200 Lebanese towns that remain unvisited.”

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