Coronavirus: Government urged to take ‘every possible step’ to bring UK tourists home
Foreign affairs select committee chair Tom Tugendhat has written to foreign secretary Dominic Raab seeking assurances that the government has taken “every possible step” to return UK citizens stranded abroad to the UK.
Although the exact number is unclear, there are currently hundreds of thousands of British tourists stuck overseas due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Due to near blanket bans on travel and border closures, it is currently impossible for many of them to get back by normal air travel.
In his letter, Tugendhat said that the committee had received a number of emails from UK citizens in Australia, New Zealand, India, South America and south east Asia concerned about the local consulates’ response to their plight.
Tugendhat said that some of those in question needed medical care, were running out of money, or under considerable duress.
The letter seeks clarity as to which countries the UK is working with in order to facilitate the return of its civilians, as well as the financial support the government is making available to help those stranded.
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It also asks whether the Foreign Office has taken steps to requisition military aircraft to assist with the repatriation effort.
In response, a FCO spokesperson said: “The FCO is working around the clock to support British travelers in this situation to allow them to come back to the UK.
“The Government is seeking to keep key transit routes open as long as possible and is in touch with international partners and the airline industry to make this happen”.
In the last week alone, the FCO has got 12,000 people back from Egypt, as well as 8,500 people from Morocco and 4,000 from Jamaica.
It will run three more charter flights from Peru in the coming days, as well as five extra Easyjet flights to Spain.
Raab has been in contact with 30 of his counterparts in order to open borders to enable planes to fly.
Last week Raab called on the G7 to lead the way in ensuring emergency flights could run when and where they are necessary to bring people home.