With several constituents stuck abroad during the Coronavirus crisis, and with the FCO travel advice having been updated to ask all UK nationals on holiday abroad to come home, Antony Higginbotham MP has raised with the Foreign Secretary the possible means of getting them home.
During an Urgent Question in the House of Commons Antony praised the Foreign Office team in the UK and around the world for the work they are doing around the clock to support UK nationals overseas, and asked whether more can be done globally, including through the G20, to coordinate repatriation flights.
In response the Foreign Secretary confirmed that he and other government Minister’s had been engaging with counterparts around the world, the European Union and the G7. The Foreign Secretary also recognised the further work that could be done through the G20.
Following the Urgent Question, Antony said:
“It is important that we first thank all the FCO staff in London and around the world who are working flat out to bring people home during what it is the largest repatriation since World War 2. This is an incredibly stressful situation for UK nationals who want to return home but our diplomats are navigating significant local challenges, including restrictions on movements, to do whatever is necessary to secure a route back.
The G20 is an important forum to have some of these conversation about how we can keep repatriation routes open, with a number of members of that group having key transport hubs, including Singapore and the Gulf countries.
I am pleased that the Foreign Secretary is already working with those countries so that we can soon have everyone back on UK soil.”
