MP demands urgent support to repatriate citizens

Navendu Mishra has written to Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to call on the Foreign & Commonwealth Office to do more to help thousands of people, many of which live in his constituency, to return home in the coming days.

The letter, which was also signed by 18 MPs, asks for the Government to outline what steps it is taking to ensure those who remain abroad will be brought home immediately. As we approach the coronavirus peak and, with many airlines grounding their crews, Mr Mishra has called for this to happen ‘within days, if not hours’.

Mr Mishra has also asked for clarity about the £75m that the Government has previously announced would be available to help repatriate citizens. To date, there has been little detail about how this can be accessed and whether it will be used to help either underwrite the cost of flights or reimburse citizens who have already spent thousands of pounds to return home.

Navendu Mishra stated:

“Today I called on the Government to urgently bring home UK citizens who remain stranded abroad as a result of the coronavirus crisis.

“It is unacceptable that, weeks into this pandemic, UK citizens have been unable to return. Worryingly, many of these are running low on medical supplies, or are designated carers and need to return home to look after family members.

“Many countries, including the US, Germany, India, the UAE and Poland have done far more to ensure that their citizens are brought home, in many cases at no extra cost. We need to be doing the same.

“It is estimated that there are 65,000 UK nationals still stranded abroad and, as we head towards the peak of this pandemic, the Government needs to act now.”