Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared late Saturday that the government was arranging repatriation for Maldivian students stranded in Belarus amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The ministry's Director of Communications Miuvaan Mohamed noted that the government faced several challenges in facilitating repatriation for stranded Maldivians due to global travel restrictions and closed borders, which have been implemented across several countries in a bid to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
Highlighting that most foreign students stranded in Belarus, in addition to Maldivians, were facing the same concerns and difficulties, Miuvaan nevertheless assured that the foreign ministry was working to bring back the students as soon as possible.
He added that the government was closely monitoring the situation of the students, and urged them to adhere to the instructions of the Belarusian authorities until the foreign ministry could arrange their flight.
Presently, there are 139 Maldivians registered in Belarus, the majority of whom are medical students.
Maldivian students stuck in Belarus, one of the only European countries that has still not implemented strict containment measures against the pandemic, have been raising concerns to the Maldivian government about their own safety.
While Belarus currently records over 22,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 129 fatalities, healthcare professionals suggest that the number of deaths in Belarus has been intentionally underreported. A number of independent media also report that hospitals are under pressure to register COVID-19 deaths as cases of pneumonia or heart failure.
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