The country’s national airline, Maldivian has facilitated the evacuation of nationals of Thailand stranded in the Maldives, back to their country via a repatriation flight on Thursday morning.

The announcement was made via the national airline on Thursday morning via Twitter, adding that a total of 55 Thai national were evacuated.

Evacuees include tourists as well as work permit-holders from Thailand. This is the first of three scheduled repatriation flights to the southeast Asian nation.

Further, the airline noted that the care packages prepared by families for their loved ones stranded in Bangkok, Thailand were also sent via the flight.

The government has been facilitating the delivery of care packages to Maldivians residing abroad, including Sri Lanka, Malaysia and India. Further, the arrangement is currently underway for Maldivians residing in the United Arab Emirates as well.

While a number of Maldivians are stranded abroad due to the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic sweeping across the globe at a swift rate, the government has stressed that they are unable to bring every single individual back home, at the moment. However, evacuation will be arranged for Maldivians who wish to return, in accordance with the availability of space in quarantine and isolation facilities established across the Maldives.

These Maldivians have been urged to remain home if they can and to refrain from trying to return back home, for their own safety. Maldivians have been expressing concern over the hindrances being faced in acquiring essential items abroad. The Maldives Ministry of Foreign Affairs is in discussions with the government of several countries accommodating a large Maldivian community, to provide any assistance they may need during these challenging times.

While over 1,000 Maldivians stranded abroad have previously been brought back from countries such as India, Sri Lanka and Malaysia, the ministry is closely monitoring the situation of other who remain in foreign countries.