#Tonsemberera: Covid-19: Govt plans to return 2,400 Ugandans stranded abroad at own cost

By Our Reporter

Uganda’s Missions abroad have so far registered close to 2,400 Ugandans who are stuck in 66 countries across the world due to Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), forcing government to plan for their return back home in a phased manner, Sam Kutesa, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, told Parliament yesterday.

Minister Kutesa said government has now built domestic capacity to manage the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of structures, human resources and citizen awareness.

“In arranging for our citizens to return, there is need to ensure both the personal safety of the returnees as well as that of the communities they are coming to join. In this regard; Government has agreed in principle to allow all the Ugandans who got stranded abroad on account of the closure of the airport and borders to begin returning home in a phased manner starting with those who are in dire need. The exercise will be done within a framework that ensures both personal and public safety,” he said.

He said the first phase of the returnees should be Ugandans who are stranded in distant places such as Europe, the Americas, West Africa, Eastern Asia and the Middle East. “The reason for this being that they are more likely to be in dire need of help. Besides, many of them already have air tickets which they were travelling on before they were stopped and would simply need to revalidate those tickets,” the minister said adding that  managing their arrival through the controlled environment of the airport will  give government valuable experience on how to deal with even larger groups that may come through the land borders.

The minister said the next phase would be for those in the neighbouring countries who are most likely to come by car or on foot through the borders. “By the time we embark on this next phase, the necessary structures and safeguards will have been set up at the border crossings.”

He said concerned departments of Government are now setting up the specific requirements that they will need to ensure safe and smooth implementation of this exercise and that the Minister of Foreign Affairs has already held discussions with some of the Airlines which still operate a wide network of routes around the world, such as Ethiopian Airlines to see if can pick Ugandans back home.

“We have also held discussions with the United Nations which still operates many humanitarian flights across Africa, to consider placing some of the stranded Ugandans on these flights as they transit through Entebbe or as they bring in their UN personnel. As you are aware, the airport in Entebbe is a UN logistics base and the United Nations continues to operate several flights in and out of Entebbe.”

 Kutesa said they have engaged the Government of the United Arab Emirates about assisting Ugandan migrant workers who have lost their jobs due to the economic effects of COVID-19 and now wish to come back home. “In this regard, the UAE has agreed to arrange for at least 3 flights to bring these Ugandans home and as soon as our Ministry of Health is ready to receive them, this offer will be utilized.”  

He said the Indian community in Uganda has also proposed to arrange for a special flight to bring back both the Ugandans who are stranded in India and also some members of the Indian community who hold Ugandan resident permits but got stranded while visiting India. We are examining this proposal.

But all the returning travellers will be required to meet the cost of their travel back home as has been the international practice for many countries, the minister says. “We have since established that many of our returnees already had air tickets which they were travelling on at the time of the closure and that they would now simply need to update those tickets with the airlines.”

However, according to the minister, the Ugandans returning home will be required to provide proof of negative COVID-19 test results before they embark on their journey. This will help to avoid infecting each other while in transit and on the plane.”

Those who test positive to COVID-19 on arrival, they will first have to undergo treatment in their present locations before they can travel back to Uganda at a later date.

“On arrival in Uganda, the returnees will again be tested for COVID-19 and then taken into mandatory quarantine for a minimum of 14 days in a Government designated facility. The Ministry of Health will ensure that by the time they are released into the communities, they will have been certified as healthy.”