The firefighters who were repatriated from Indonesia after having been stranded there due to the borders being closed, were greeted with a “guard of honor”.

Taking to Twitter following their return to Maldives, the Maldives Airport Fire and Rescue revealed that they were undergoing training in Indonesia when the borders were shut.

After spending weeks unable to return back home due to the “unfolding situation”, they were repatriated via a flight of Indonesia’s Garuda Airlines on Friday night. The Maldives Airport Fire and Rescue went on to express gratitude for the efforts to repatriate them by the High Commission of Maldives in Malaysia.

A total of 18 Maldivians stuck in Indonesia were repatriated on Friday night.

Despite movement restriction measures being put in place by several countries where a number of Maldivians are stills tranded, the Maldivian government has assured that they are working to bring them back. As such, the government previously facilitated the repatriation of a number of Maldivians through charters flights and foreign assistance. Over 1,000 Maldivians have been evacuated from Bangladesh, Nepal, Malaysia and India.

The Communications Director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Miuvan Mohamed told RaajjeMV that there are additional Maldivians who wish to return and that they will be provided the opportunity to return, soon.

Maldivians that wish to return have been sought to register at the embassies closest to them.

As per protocol, returnees are being quarantined for the required period of 14 days and tested for Covid-19 before they are released.