About 110,000 French people out of the 130,000 who were stranded abroad due to border closures due to the coronavirus pandemic have been repatriated, said Secretary of State for Transport Jean-Baptiste Djebbari on Sunday. "There are still complicated points, especially in the Philippines", but it is being resolved, he said on Radio J.
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Thursday, Jean-Baptiste Djebbari had evoked the more complex case of certain countries such as the Philippines with French "scattered" on several islands which must be grouped before making them join France by flights chartered by the government.
Air lift
Moreover, for the 1,500 French stranded in New Zealand, "we are mounting, since last night, government flights so as to have prices that are acceptable," added the Secretary of State, welcoming again "the extraordinary work that Air France is doing" on this airlift.
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To the French who had already declared themselves at the start is now adding "a new wave who were habitual residents in other countries" and "wish to return to France in particular to benefit from care", he specified.