COVID-19: Mexico to repatriate thousands of tourists stranded abroad

Mexico’s Foreign Affairs Ministry  (SRE)

calculated that thousands of Mexicans will be repatriated during the COVID-19 international emergency with the help of the National Migration Institute (INM) and the National Defense Ministry (SEDENA) .

In a statement, the SRE stressed that only in the last three days, the Mexican government brought back to the country a total of 576 Mexicans from Colombia , Peru , Guatemala , and Cuba .

In the official report, it added that it sent charter airplanes to Colombia and Ecuador , from where 62 and 53 Mexicans were repatriated correspondingly, as well as from Peru , where it guaranteed a safe return to 299 fellow citizens.

Recommended: Coronavirus Outbreak: Mexican tourists stranded abroad ask for help to get home

By land, the SRE repatriated 28 Mexicans from Guatemala since that country has closed all commercial air operations. On Saturday, the SEDENA helped in the return of 134 Mexicans who were stranded in that country.

“ Repatriations have been done with strict fulfillment of security and health regulations , both in the countries of origin as well as in the arrival in Mexico.”

“Mexico’s government keeps assisting and helping Mexican people abroad that are affected by the current travel restrictions and makes a call for them to keep in touch with the network of embassies and consulates ,” said the SRE.

The SRE added that, in the regions where there are still commercial flight options , like Europe, “we have given guidance to Mexican people abroad and we are working on easing the transit and connections.

Recommended: Coronavirus Outbreak: Non-essential travel restricted at the Mexico-U.S. border

“We will keep exploring all the possibilities for people to return home and, given the case it is not possible in the short term, for them to have access to local options during the contingency ,” explained the SRE.

In the document, the SRE also thanked authorities from the countries that authorized the operations for the return of Mexicans and acknowledged that the environment “is increasingly complex due to the coronavirus pandemic in the world.”

On Saturday, Mexico sent a SEDENA airplane from Mexico City to La Habana , Cuba to help a group of Mexicans stranded on the island due to the pandemic.

The aircraft also took 49 Cubans from Mexico to Cuba and who wanted to return to their homeland.

The flight was done according to the corresponding international health measures and controls to prevent any infection.

On April 1, with the help of the SRE and SEDENA , two airplanes from Mexico’s Air Force arrived in Mexico City’s International Airport with 280 Mexicans from Argentina.

Upon their arrival, all the Mexicans who were stranded in Argentina followed the corresponding health measures to detect if any of them tested positive for COVID.19

Mexico’s Foreign Affairs Ministry (SRE)

revealed that as of April 14 , a total of 9,297 Mexicans have been repatriated from different parts of the world due to the spread of COVID-19.

There are still 2,842 Mexicans who are still seeking to return to our country.

The SRE said that on April 11, 40 Mexicans who were stranded in Medellín , Colombia were able to return to Mexico; in addition, there were 5 Mexicans set to return from India via the U.S.

On April 11 , a humanitarian flight from the Mexican Air Force departed to Argentina with 123 Argentinians , 63 Chileans , and 38 Uruguayans . The aircraft returned to Mexico with 160 fellow citizens who were stranded in South America.

On Friday, 9 Mexicans returned from the United Arab Emirates , 6 from Japan , 5 from Malaysia , 2 from South Africa , 45 from Ecuador , and 30 from Miami .

As of May 13 , the SRE said that 12,013 fellow citizens have returned to Mexico after being stranded all over the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On June 3 , Mexico's Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard posted on his Twitter account that 14,000 fellow citizens have been repatriated from all over the world during the pandemic.

8,201 Mexicans have been able to come back from Latin America .

Meanwhile, 3,962 Mexicans have returned from Europe , 572 from Africa , 449 from North America , 873 from Asia-Pacific , and 228 from the Middle East .

However, there are still 2,627 Mexicans stranded abroad.

Recommended: COVID-19: Over 1,100 Mexicans have been repatriated

mp