Foreign workers struggle to return to UAE amid virus limbo

In this family photograph, Eudinson Uy, right, poses for a photograph with his wife, Allaina Pelayo, and their infant son Benjamin Timoteo, in Yerevan, Armenia, July 9, 2020. They are among the hundreds of thousands of foreign residents of the United Arab Emirates who now are stuck abroad amid the coronavirus pandemic. (Eudinson Uy via AP)

In this family photo, Kamran Arshad, his wife Iqra Kamran, and infant daughter Hiyam Kamran pose for a photograph in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, July 7, 2020. They are among the hundreds of thousands of foreign residents of the United Arab Emirates who now are stuck abroad amid the coronavirus pandemic. (Kamran Arshad via AP)

FILE - In this July 6, 2020 file photo, the front desk staff wearing masks due to the coronavirus pandemic help customers at the Rove City Centre Hotel in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Hundreds of thousands of foreign residents of the UAE are struggling to return to the country after a lockdown over the coronavirus. Dubai opening to tourists helped some return, as Westerners and those from the Gulf Cooperation Council states get visas on arrival in the UAE. But others, including those from the Asian nations that supply the Emirates its army of laborers, cleaners, taxi drivers and office workers, need a visa issued beforehand. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell, File)

FILE - In this June 10, 2020 file photo, passenger wearing a mask due to the coronavirus pandemic passes through a temperature screening at Dubai International Airport's Terminal 3 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Hundreds of thousands of foreign residents of the UAE are struggling to return to the country after a lockdown over the coronavirus. They left behind jobs, families, homes and other responsibilities of which they always planned to return. But some tell The Associated Press they still face challenges in trying to come back. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell, File)