The government of the Maldives has commenced operations of expatriate repatriation flights from Gan International Airport in Addu City.
Island Aviation Services Limited (IASL), which operates the national carrier Maldivian, revealed a repatriation flight travelled with 135 Bangladeshi nationals to Dhaka, Bangladesh from Addu City.
Many foreign workers have lost their jobs and have been stranded in the Maldives due to lockdowns and movement caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the major decisions of the government to contain the spread of COVID-19 is relocating expatriate workers living in overcrowded accommodations and repatriating expatriates living in poor conditions.
The statistics shared by the Maldives Immigration with PSM News showed 13,819 expatriate workers have been repatriated as part of the operation to provide safe passage back to their countries at a time international borders are closed and travel is restricted due to the pandemic. The repatriated expatriates include 5,301 Bangladeshi nationals, 5,026 Indian nationals, 1,393 Sri Lankan nationals, 809 Indonesian nationals, 336 Filipino nationals, 350 Thai nationals and 604 Nepali nationals.