ABU DHABI - In line with directives issued by the country’s top leadership under its close follow-up, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, MoFAIC, has taken all necessary measures to evacuate Emirati citizens and their companions abroad, in coordination with UAE embassies and representative missions abroad.

MoFAIC and UAE missions have reached out to Emiratis abroad to check on them and facilitate all procedures to bring them and their companions back to the homeland safely, following the decision to suspend all incoming and outgoing flights in a number of countries around the world amid the COVID-19 outbreak around the world.

Khaled Abdullah Belhoul, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, stated that 39 evacuations of Emiratis and those accompanying them have been completed by air and by land, equivalent to the evacuation of a total of 1,743 people, and 25 evacuations are under way and shall be completed within the next few days.

He stressed the keenness and follow-up of MoFAIC’s leadership on the full progress of work to ensure Emirati citizens return home safely and to facilitate the procedures necessary for their evacuation to the UAE.

He highlighted the continuous cooperation with the National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority, NCEMA, and with all the concerned authorities in the UAE and abroad to monitor the developments of the situation and to evacuate Emirati and ensure their safe return.

Dr. Khaled Al-Mazrouei, Assistant Undersecretary for Consular Affairs, praised the joint efforts of the MoFAIC Call Centre, Operations Department, and the Citizen Affairs Department for their work around the clock to respond to citizens' inquiries and to coordinate with UAE embassies and representative missions abroad, which have mobilized all their resources to secure the evacuation of citizens and their companions.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation urged Emirati citizens currently abroad who wish to return to the UAE to register through the following link https://www.research.net/r/mofa-nat to be included in the evacuation plan to the UAE over the current period.

© Copyright Emirates News Agency (WAM) 2020.