Egypt begins repatriating citizens stranded in Kuwait

Official Egyptian sources at Cairo International Airport yesterday reported that an EgyptAir plane was repatriating “thousands of Egyptians stranded” in Kuwait.

“In coordination with the Foreign Affairs Ministry, a national aircraft left Cairo on Tuesday morning to repatriate more than 300 Egyptians stranded in Kuwait,” the sources told local media, adding that “priority will be given to women, children and the elderly.

“The sources pointed out that the returning citizens would be transferred to “some university dorms for a period of 14 days in quarantine as a precautionary measure to curb the spread of the coronavirus locally.”

“A second plane will leave later on Tuesday for Kuwait to return another group of 300 workers,” the sources noted.

READ: Kuwait to cut internet services for Egyptians violating residency laws

The Egyptian government is currently working on repatriating 5,300 stranded Egyptian workers in Kuwait, in addition to an undisclosed number who are in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, according to official data.

On Monday, the Kuwaiti Interior Ministry said its security services had broken up “riots and chaos” by a number of Egyptians stranded in shelters whom it said were “violating residency laws”.

The expatriates had called on Egyptian authorities to repatriate them.The ministry added that “representatives of the Egyptian embassy had attended the site and informed their nationals that they would start preparing scheduled flights to return them to their homeland.”