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Spike in Covid-19 detection grounds migrant workers’ repatriation flights
The Government has suspended repatriation of migrant workers again–including lucrative charter flights–after a spike in imported COVID-19 cases this week.
The suspension started yesterday and could last around a week, authorities said. The move comes amidst a push by tourism authorities to reopen the airport to facilitate revival of the ailing industry. But the Health Ministry has ruled out the possibility saying it was too early.
“I can’t risk people in the country by letting the airports open for others,” Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi told journalists this week. To allow tourists to return, Sri Lanka will also have to increase its PCR testing capacity. At present, 500 can be done per day at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) and 300 at Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA).
Between August 30 and September 2, there were 116 new COVID-19 cases. One planeload from Qatar that arrived this week–mostly Sri Lankan blue collar workers with expired paperwork–had around 80 infected patients. They were flown in on Qatar Airways.
A vast majority of migrant repatriations are now charters approved by a special division in the President’s Office. The package includes paid PCR, transport and hotel quarantine. More hotels have been added to the list including Shangri-La Hambantota, Cinnamon Red and Best Western Elyon Hotel in Colombo.
The logistics are coordinated by handpicked companies including Avant Garde Maritime Services (AGMS) which also coordinates passage from parts of the world where the national carrier, SriLankan Airlines, does not have strong reach. For instance, passengers from around Africa or other continents are gathered to a convenient destination from which they are ferried out.
“We sell 95 percent of our tickets directly to passengers,” said Ashok Pathirage, SriLankan Airlines Chairman. “This is to their benefit because it doesn’t involve other parties keeping a markup. But in some cases, when there are destinations to which we don’t fly and don’t have the logistics capacity, the coordination is done by the nominated companies.”
There have been some concerns about the high prices but SriLankan says it was factoring in its costs when issuing tickets to groups that seek charter services. The business has proved “fairly profitable” for the struggling national carrier which does not face competition for its routes from other airlines as it did in a pandemic-free situation. It has expanded its services by providing charters to other countries such as India and China (one trip involved transporting Chinese nationals from Europe to China).
“On some of these routes, we were not making money,” Mr Pathirage said. “Today, we don’t operate a single route without recovering our cost.”
A flourishing industry has now sprung around these charter flights, even abroad. There are Facebook sites, for instance, advertising services. One group says ‘Special Charter Flight for Reparation–package cost per person starting from AED 3,750’. Amounting to nearly Rs 200,000, it includes one way-economy class airfare from Dubai to Mattala; three PCR tests; one-way transfer from MRIA to the hotel; and 14-days quarantine stay on a full-board, twin-sharing basis.
Another page titled ‘Charter Flight Dubai-Colombo’ requires potential members to answer a questionnaire before joining. And its administrator clearly states: “Please join only if you can afford the amount. Don’t waste time and money of other people. We understand many are in trouble now. But this is not a social service.” The price quoted here is (UAE Dirhams) AED 4,500 (around Rs 227,000) for a similar package.
Despite more and more hotels opening up for “quarantine business”, the capacity in Government-run free facilities is now exhausted with schools also now open. There are more than 56,000 migrants still waiting to return. Most have lost jobs and cannot afford isolation in hotels.
The United Arab Emirates has been badly hit by the pandemic, an email sent by a Sri Lankan resident worker said this week. Job losses, displacement and starvation are common among the migrants and slow repatriation is a growing concern.
There are about 350,000 Sri Lankans there and between 25,000 and 30,000 await repatriation, the email said. Of them, 14,000 are “desperate” with means of supporting themselves–“thrown out of accommodation, starving”.
Some are being sheltered at the Sri Lankan Embassy and Consulate while others are supported by charities. But slow repatriation has made it a slow task to manage and support them.
“In the recent past, the perception appears to be that we should not bring in people from Gulf which does not portray humanity being practised,” it said. “Where would these expatriate Sri Lankans go otherwise?”
Other countries have taken the initiative to bring back their nationals. It is happening in full swing and in large numbers but “ours is a slow saga”.
The email, signed by ‘Concerned Expatriate Sri Lankan Citizen/s’ says that there are people who can afford charters and paid quarantine but many more who cannot. If the authorities were concerned about quarantine limitations, they could exercise the self-quarantine option, it urged under strict observation by health and police.
“If no action is taken now, the situation will get worse, even to the extent of suicide,” it concluded.