A total of 22 flights carrying 4,237 Egyptian workers stranded in Kuwait due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, arrived in Cairo on Wednesday, the Ministry of Manpower has announced.
A total of 32 flights are set to operate out of Kuwait on Wednesday, flying to Egypt, India, Jordan and Qatar. This is the biggest departure of foreigners from the country since the global pandemic began.
In May, Egypt began repatriating nationals stranded in Kuwait after local authorities there broke up riots by Egyptian workers with invalid residence permits seeking to return home.
Also on Wednesday, two EgyptAir flights carrying Egyptians stranded in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, are set to arrive in Cairo.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation announced an air bridge of 18 exceptional flights operated by Egypt Air and Air Cairo will be opened, to return Egyptian nationals stranded in Qatar.
In an announcement made on Tuesday, the ministry said that the air bridge, which begins flights between Cairo and Oman’s capital, Muscat, will transport about 3,000 Egyptians stranded in Qatar. The Egyptian nationals will first be transferred to Muscat from the Qatari capital, Doha, on June 13.
Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Egypt has been keen to repatriate its citizens stranded abroad, due to the suspension of international flights.
Last week, Egypt decided to scrap the 14-day quarantine enforced on its repatriated nationals. Under the system, the returnees were placed in hotels repurposed for quarantine in the Red Sea resort of Marsa Alam. The repatriated Egyptians will now be able to undertake the 14-day home quarantine at home.
