The government will repatriate some of the Albanians that are stranded abroad and wish to return home, starting from Monday, according to an announcement by Prime Minister Edi Rama today.
Following the closure of Albania’s borders due to Coronavirus, many citizens have been unable to travel back to the country. Currently, the only commercial flight operating is between Albania and Turkey. The company, Air Albania, will use its only Airbus plane for these flights.
Rama announced the government has selected some of the people to be repatriated, details of which will be made public on Saturday. He said he personally asked Air Albania not to ask for money for these “humanitarian missions”, adding that he was happy the company accepted right away his request.
It is not clear how many flights there will be and how many people will be repatriated.
However, Rama explained that 1379 citizens have been “identified”, possibly meaning they have been contacted by authorities, whilst there are 2163 Albanians that have been stranded abroad.
According to the prime minister, there are 650 Albanians stranded in Italy, 341 in Croatia, 114 in England, 77 in Switzerland, 70 in Spain, 45 in Greece, 35 in Germany, 37 in France, 21 in Sweden, 19 in Austria, and small numbers of others in different countries.
Rama said they have already assisted the return of 52 from Spain, 114 from Germany, 110 from Romania, 45 from Bulgaria, 22 from France and 33 from the United Arab Emirates, without explaining how they had been assisted.
