DUBAI: Kuwait will undertake a major repatriation effort for its nationals stranded overseas beginning April 19 after Cabinet officials earlier approved protocols on how to bring them home.
Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khalid Al-Hamad Al-Sabah said that there were about 50,000 Kuwaiti citizens around the world, and about 35,000 have expressed their desire to be repatriated.
“This subject is a priority for us, and we have been engaged in lengthy discussions to try to reach the bests solutions while preserving the health system in the country,” he said in a report from state news agency KUNA.
The new arrivals will undergo medical tests for coronavirus, involving temperatures being recorded, and swab tests taken, before being each person is placed in quarantine.
The repatriation will be in three phases
- The first on April 19 and April 20, will cover Kuwaitis in GCC countries, Egypt and Turkey;
- The second stage, on April 23, will be for Kuwaiti patients who need medical beds and life support;
- The third stage, which begins on April 25, will be a full-scale operation to return Kuwaiti citizens from 101 places globally.
