UK promises first repatriation flights from India next week

Thousands of British nationals stranded in India after the country went into coronavirus lockdown are to be flown home on charter flights that will begin next week, the Foreign Office has said.

The high commissioner in Delhi, Jan Thompson, made the late-night announcement on social media after days of criticism that the British government was not doing enough to get people out of a country where restrictions have triggered food shortages and been enforced with police brutality.

default

“Special charter flights from India to the UK organised by the British government will start next week,” she said. “We are still in the process of finalising details with the Indian government and airlines.

“Next week is just the start. We will not be able to get everyone home immediately so please bear with us.”

The priority would be to get the most vulnerable home first, she said.

India has been one of the top priorities for the government’s £75m coronavirus rescue operation announced by the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, on Monday.

The British ambassador in Kathmandu has also confirmed that there will be flights next week from Nepal, where an estimated 700 Britons are stranded.

Britain’s embassies around the world have been criticised for the government’s failure to act sooner. Germany has rescued 30 times as many people as the UK since global travel restrictions started three weeks ago.

There is growing concern that Britons in Thailand could be marooned after the embassy in Bangkok advised tourists who intended to return home to make plans to do so immediately, after the country started closing down domestic travel routes and shutting some provincial borders.

“This disruption is likely to last for some time so if you decide to remain in Thailand you should plan for this and make sure you have enough money, somewhere to stay and access to healthcare,” the embassy said in a tweet.

Like Australia, Argentina, New Zealand and Sri Lanka, Thailand is not on the UK’s priority list for charter flights.

There was also anger in Pakistan where stranded Britons are being encouraged to buy seats for about £1,000 on the dwindling number of commercial flights leaving the country.

“How are families with four up to 10 family members able to afford tickets that are being sold for £800+. These do not sound like repatriation flights,” said Tabassum Niamat.

There are thought to be at least 600 Britons, including senior NHS staff, trapped in Pakistan and struggling to get on flights even if they have the money because they are often cancelled, even after being flagged by the local embassy.

Others have complained they may not be able to get to the airport because of the lockdown and police checks.

One woman in the UK who has family in the country said: “Charter flights with a capped price have been sent to many other countries. Yet British Pakistanis are being left stranded,” she said.