April 25, 2020

The Security Bureau is mapping out plans to bring Hong Kong residents stranded in India and Pakistan back to Hong Kong by chartered flights.

Given the COVID-19 pandemic, India and Pakistan have banned all international flight movements since late March.

In recent days, the Immigration Department has received stranded residents’ requests for assistance in returning to Hong Kong.

After receiving these requests, the bureau and the department have been liaising with the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Chinese Embassy in the Republic of India and the Chinese Embassy in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to take follow-up actions.

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has also been liaising with the consulates-general of the Republic of India and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in Hong Kong and contacting several airlines to explore flight arrangements to bring the stranded residents back to the city.

As of April 24, the department successfully contacted about 3,200 and 2,000 residents stranded in India and Pakistan.

Due to the large number of assistance requests, the department has strengthened its manpower to proactively follow up the cases and to establish direct contact with all people concerned as soon as possible.

Currently, India has imposed strict restrictions on land and air traffic across the country and all travel must be approved by authorities.

For Pakistan, no restrictions have been placed on domestic transportation, but international flights have been banned.

The Hong Kong SAR Government will have to adopt a phased approach in assisting the return of the residents by batches, having regard to the quarantine arrangements for the returnees and the capacities for testing and the quarantine and treatment facilities.

The initial plan is to first assist residents located in New Delhi, India, or those in Islamabad, Pakistan, and their surrounding areas as well as those with special needs, such as people with illness, pregnant women, children and the elderly by flying them back by chartered flights from those two cities.

The users will bear the cost of taking the chartered flights.

Detailed arrangements such as the departure date and location of the flights are still subject to various factors, including the approval time of and the facilitation provided by the governments concerned.

Updates will be sent to affected Hong Kong residents as soon as any concrete arrangements are confirmed.

Hong Kong residents in India and Pakistan who have yet to contact the department’s Assistance to Hong Kong Residents Unit but wish to take the chartered flights should call the 24-hour hotline at (852) 1868 or send an email.

link: https://www.news.gov.hk/eng/2020/04/20200425/20200425_204357_872.html?type=ticker