Government suspends returning of Ugandans stranded abroad

Government has halted the exercise of returning Ugandans stranded abroad for a period of two weeks, the Nile Post has learnt.

According to a communication by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary, Ambassador Patrick Mugoya, the exercise has been halted to allow government handle those who have already returned.

“Accordingly, the relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies that are caretaking the returnees have requested that we pause for a break in the arrivals for a period of approximately two weeks starting July 4,2020 so as to enable them efficiently manage the numbers that already in mandatory quarantine,”Mugoya’s communication to  all heads of Uganda’s missions abroad dated July 3, 2020 reads in part.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary says the repatriation will resume after decongesting the quarantine facilities.

“In this regard, you are advised to temporarily halt all repatriation flights that had been scheduled after July,4, 2020 and to wait for further guidance on when to resume.”

Government recently said all returnees must indicate to the responsible embassies their choice of facility in Uganda where they would be quarantined for 14 days after returning.

A list of 37 quarantine centres including high-end private hotels for self- pay, budget/ medium-end private hotels also for self -pay where each person is required to pay shs150,000 per night and public facilities.

Earlier, government had indicated that the repatriation would be handled in phases when allowing citizens return.

It is part of this repatriation plan that government has halted the exercise to allow those who have already returned to complete the mandatory 14 days quarantining before allowing others to fly into the country.

A number of Ugandans who had been stranded in Sudan, UAE, Afghanistan, Netherlands, Belgium  and Southern African countries have already returned in the past two weeks.

Government recently announced that they are looking at returning over 2300 Ugandans stranded in various countries abroad over the current Coronavirus pandemic.

 

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