Sent back home. Europeans and North Americans get cleared at Entebbe International Airport before they were evacuated to their respective countries on Friday. PHOTO BY JOSEPH KIGGUNDU
More than 1,000 foreigners working in Uganda have been evacuated since government closed Entebbe airport to international travels following the coronavirus lockdown.
President Museveni closed Entebbe International Airport and Uganda’s borders to both inbound and outbound passenger traffic on March 22, a day after the country reported its first case of Covid-19.
Since then, eight evacuation flights have taken place, with the latest foreigners evacuated last Friday. In the latest evacuation, 175 passengers were taken aboard Ethiopian Airlines to Europe and America. They included 75 Swedish nationals, a number of other European citizens, Canadians and Americans.
The Swedish ambassador to Uganda, Per Lindgärde, said the decision to evacuate the nationals from Uganda was taken by the country’s Foreign Affairs ministry at home following the global outbreak.
“This is a decision the Foreign Affairs minister has taken in Stockholm to call back the family members and reduce the number of embassy staff from the countries of sub-Saharan Africa, as well as some countries from Asia and South America as well,” he said.
Mr Lindgärde said the evacuations are temporary measures and those who have travelled back home will be allowed to return as soon as the situation normalises.
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