Over 34,000 Nepalis repatriated home via chartered flights

KATHMANDU: Over 34 thousand Nepalis have returned home from abroad during the lockdown period till Wednesday.

They were brought in the country via different chartered flights since June 5. The first chartered flight was made from Myanmar on June 5 carrying 26 Nepali migrant workers during the lockdown.

It is shared that most of the returnees are from the Gulf countries and Myanmar. Of them, 7,617 are brought in the country from UAE while 5,611 from Saudi Arabia. Similarly, 5,549 persons have been brought home from Kuwait, 5,333 from Malaysia and 3,941 from Qatar via chartered flights.

Along with this, 980 migrant workers were brought in the country from Bahrain, 841 from Bangladesh, 756 from Japan, 709 from the Maldives, 634 from Australia, 492 from Oman, 476 from South Korea, 423 from USA and 326 from Thailand.

According to statistics, about two million migrant workers are currently in the Gulf countries and Malaysia. The COVID-19 outbreak has adversely affected the Nepali migrant workers of these countries.

The national flag bearing Nepal Airlines made the highest number of rescue flights while Himalayan Airlines, Qatar Air, Malaysian Air among others had made notable rescue flights during the period.

The government has decided to resume the halted international flights from August 12 and TIA is making preparation for this regard. RS