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Belarus helps 8,000 Belarusians stranded abroad amid pandemic

An archive photo

MINSK, 15 May (BelTA) – Since the middle of March, after some countries imposed emergency restrictive measures in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Belarus has helped around 8,000 of its citizens return home, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Some 300 people came back to Belarus last week alone.

The urgent problem with Belarusians stranded in India, the UAE, and Egypt has been reduced. In the past three weeks, the Belarusian air carrier Belavia performed three charter flights to these destinations and evacuated 462 people, half of whom were Belarusian nationals. Last week, several more citizens departed from India by special flights organized by Ukraine. They were later transported to Belarus with the help of the Belarusian Embassy in Kiev.

The Belarusian charter flights also evacuated citizens of another 16 countries, including Russia (the biggest group – 120 people), Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Austria, Latvia, and Sweden.

Dozens of Belarusians flew home from some African countries and Jordan thanks to the assistance of Belarusian embassies.

Belarus in close cooperation with Russia organized special flights to help Belarusian citizens get back from China, Venezuela, and the Seychelles.

The problem with bringing Belarusians home from Vietnam and Thailand is still on the table. As there is only a small number of people who want to take a special flight home, the regional Belarusian embassies continue looking into alternative routes to transport them to Belarus.

For example, there are regular flights from Vietnam to the Netherlands and Finland, from where Belarusian travelers could head for Belarus.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also pointed out that some countries have already adopted and started to implement plans on easing the quarantine measures. So far, this has not affected the freedom of movement greatly as the countries have only lifted restrictions on activities of some enterprises and establishments.

In view of this, the ministry calls to stay tuned for updates on the situation on websites and social network accounts of Belarusian and foreign embassies as well as ministries of foreign affairs of relevant countries.

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