Mayor pleads again to get locals back home from abroad

Many Greater Manchester residents remain stranded abroad as tighter coronavirus-related travel restrictions continue to cause problems.

An unprecedented number of British travellers are trying to get home in what has been described as ‘the greatest global challenge in a generation’.

Many of those abroad are unable to afford the limited number of flights available, or are faced with no flights at all.

While hundreds of thousands of UK nationals have already made it home, the government has announced a £75 million funding package to repratriate those still stuck around the world.

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said the ‘very complex situation’ was far from being resolved for some from the region.

“We have Greater Manchester residents in a whole number of countries, and the latest figures tell me that almost 200 cases have come to our attention,” he said.

“We’ve been working hard to bring people home, some people are coming home, but it remains a very challenging situation that is different country by country.

“There is still a high number of Greater Manchester residents stranded and we are continuing to provide them with whatever support that we can.”

Speaking at a weekly press conference for the regional COVID-19 emergency committee, Mr Burnham said the number of people that had contacted him for help was ‘in the tens at least’.

This included a group of nurses from Wigan stranded in Cambodia, who have since safely returned home.

But speaking at the government’s daily press briefing on Monday, foreign secretary Dominic Raab said there was ‘a lot more to do’.

He announced that a new deal had been struck between the government and partner airlines to fly tens of thousands of stranded British travellers where commercial flights are no longer possible.

“Coronavirus hasn’t just challenged us at home, it is the greatest global challenge in a generation,” he said.

“And as countries work to secure their borders and stop the further spread of this deadly virus, we appreciate that an unprecedented number of UK travellers are trying to get home, and we’re not talking a few hundred or even a few thousand. 

“We’re talking about hundreds of thousands of people travelling around the world.”

With the help of the Spanish government, an estimated 150,000 UK nationals have been able to get home. 

Further cooperation with governments and airlines in Morocco and Cyprus have helped in returning a further 13,500 people.

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