GCC tightens expat health screening

May 5, 2014

Jeddah, May 5: The GCC is tightening its medical screening process for newly arriving expats in an effort to keep the region free from communicable diseases.

The six-state bloc also intends to keep a close watch on accredited health centers in various cities in manpower-exporting countries.

Many Asian nationals have been deported after arriving in the Kingdom because despite being declared medically unfit in their home countries, they managed to fly out. These expats have also been denied entry into other GCC countries.

Bangladesh and Philippines are among the countries whose medical centers have erroneously sent sick individuals to the region, according to sources.

An inspection team from an expatriate health checkup mission, launched by the executive board of the GCC Health Ministers Council, recently visited South Asian countries to conduct random checks and to evaluate the performance of accredited health centers, according to a high-ranking official at the council.

Basheer Al-Sufyani, head of the mission, told Arab News that preliminary screening has reduced the number of infected persons entering into GCC countries to nearly five percent of all new arrivals.

A total of 298 accredited health centers are functioning in 11 manpower-exporting countries.

“India alone has 107 of these centers, while Bangladesh has 35, the Philippines 31, Indonesia 30, Pakistan 22, Sri Lanka 15, Egypt 13, Nepal 12, Syria six and Sudan five,” said Al-Sufyani.

“Nationals from these countries, as well as Ethiopia, are required to undergo medical screening prior to having their GCC employment visas endorsed.”

He added: “Expats will be checked again upon entering a GCC state to check for possible medical error. These checks will ensure that the incubation period of certain diseases has passed.”

Al-Sufyani explained: Medical report results will be linked electronically among GCC countries. Results will be uploaded onto consulate or embassy websites in host countries, which will be shared through a unified GCC electronic gateway. This will eradicate the possibility of test results being manipulated.”

Around 2.2 million expats are seeking employment in GCC countries, of which one million have applied to the Kingdom, said Al-Sufyani.

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Syrian Town erupts after Israeli forces enter Beit Jinn; heavy casualties reported

News Network

November 28,2025

Several Syrians were killed and more than two dozen others injured in Israeli strikes on the outskirts of Damascus, amid intensified incursions by the occupying regime since the fall of former president Bashar al-Assad and the rise of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rule.

Syrian state TV reported that the casualties occurred during an overnight Israeli assault involving helicopters and drones on the town of Beit Jinn in the Damascus countryside. The attack followed an Israeli military unit’s entry into the town, where they were surrounded by local residents, leading to gunfire and direct confrontations.

According to the report, “The occupation army’s helicopters and artillery shelled Beit Jinn, located at the foothills of Mount Hermon, resulting in 13 martyrs and 25 injured civilians.” The broadcaster did not specify the full extent of damage.

Al-Ikhbariyah Syria confirmed that the shelling coincided with Israeli soldiers entering Beit Jinn, while artillery pounded surrounding areas. The broadcaster stated that the escalation began after local residents clashed with an Israeli patrol that had infiltrated the southern town and “kidnapped” three young men.

Following a two-hour exchange of heavy fire, Israeli forces withdrew and repositioned on the hill of Butt al-Warda at the town’s outskirts.

Israeli media acknowledged that six soldiers were wounded in the clashes—three of them seriously—describing the confrontation as a “sudden ambush” that forced the deployment of reserve units and air support to secure an exit route. No further details were provided.

The aggression has fueled renewed displacement from Beit Jinn, with residents fleeing to nearby villages amid increasingly frequent Israeli attacks.

The raid came just a day after Israeli troops carried out another ground incursion into Umm al-Luqas village in Quneitra province. According to SANA, an Israeli unit in four vehicles entered the village, raided several homes, and later withdrew.

Syria condemned the repeated incursions as violations of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement and UN resolutions, urging the international community to enforce compliance and pressure Israel to halt its operations and withdraw fully.

Israel has expanded its attacks across Syrian territory following the collapse of the Assad government last year. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly instructed his forces to push deeper into Syrian territory and seize strategic positions.

Meanwhile, critics say the HTS-led interim government’s inaction and growing normalization gestures toward Israel have emboldened Tel Aviv to intensify its military operations. HTS, formerly linked to al-Qaeda, seized control of Damascus last December, formally ending Assad’s rule.

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