AL-BATHA BORDER CROSSING – Long lines continued for a third straight day as thousands of Saudi nationals are being forced to wait for hours to cross into the United Arab Emirates from Al-Batha Border Crossing. The Emirati side of the border known as Al-Ghuwaifat, however, saw no long lines as travel documents were promptly being processed.



The total number of Saudi citizens who crossed into the UAE from the Al-Batha Border Crossing over the past two days reached 26,159 travelers. The number of UAE citizens crossing into the Kingdom was significantly lower.

Officials at the crossing said despite increasing the number of personnel and providing 12 travel document processing areas, authorities were struggling to cope with the holiday rush.



Maj. Gen. Nasser Al-Minhali, Assistant Undersecretary at the Ministry of Interior for Citizenship, Residency and Border Posts Affairs, said officials had completed the necessary preparations to facilitate the movement of land travelers by identifying causes of delays.

“We’ve increased the number of employees. The processing of papers for each passengers takes a minute or two. The situation will improve,” he was quoted as saying. — SG