- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announces that 148,000 French people have been repatriated since the start of the confinement.
- 20 Minutes collected some testimonies of the return conditions.
"We have brought 148,000 French people home" since the start of confinement. The Secretary of State to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, said on Tuesday on the antenna of France Bleu Provence that only "a few thousand" nationals remained to be repatriated.
After the suspension of air links with Europe, the epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic, many French people were stranded abroad. An “adapted air transport plan”, via Air France, had been put in place by the government to allow a return.
"It was a little panic for everyone"
In fact, the insurance of "We brought back" must be a little nuanced, according to some returnees that 20 Minutes was able to contact. Eléa, 21, has just returned from Australia where she had left with her partner since the end of October. But his repatriation does not owe much to the French government.
" Everything happened really fast. It was a bit of a panic for all the tourists. Overnight, youth hostels and campsites closed. Fortunately, we had our car to avoid sleeping outside, like some, "said this northerner.
A repatriation list
A week ago, an e-mail from the embassy warned them, at the end of the morning, of an organized repatriation flight… at the end of the afternoon. Impossible for the couple who still have to sell the car bought at the start of their stay, a common practice for tourists in Australia.
A phone call to the embassy does not reassure Eléa. "No other return flights were guaranteed". Then a quick glance at the airline websites worries him even more. "We found flights over 11,000 euros"
Fortunately for them, after the sale of the car, quickly completed, Qatar Airways, the embassy's referencing company, still offered two international flights a day from Perth. "We were able to find a ticket for 750 euros each and we left on Monday for a return stopover in Doha." End of the Australian adventures which had started ... by gigantic fires on the side of Sydney.
"Prohibitive prices"
As for Véronique, as with many others, it is especially the return bill that gets stuck. His parents, aged over 70, are among the 4,000 French tourists who were stranded in the Dominican Republic at the start of the confinement. "The repatriation flights were offered at prohibitive prices, three or four times the usual price, denounces this Ile-de-France. Families with three children who cannot afford to pay are still there. "
His parents were still able to return ten days ago. "We are now trying to get a refund for part of the initial ticket, but the pandemic is not one of the clauses," regrets Véronique, quite upset against the improvidence of the authorities. “When my parents left on March 9, everyone in France kept saying that there was no risk. "
Florian, also stranded in the Dominican Republic, was also able to find his way back to France with a return ticket at just over 700 euros. "There were a few twists and turns: flight canceled, then change of airport, then flight again delayed, but we got home well," he testified at 20 Minutes .
Tourists still scattered
As in the Dominican Republic, three weeks after the start of the crisis, French tourists "are still scattered" through Peru, as well as in the Philippines, "in many islands" said an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Similarly, French people are still on board the Zaandam, which docked in Florida on Thursday, and the Coral Princess, another cruise ship located off the American coast. Among them, a hundred have "very severe" health problems.
Society
"The predominant question is when and how will we be able to return to France"
Society
Nearly 600 new tourists repatriated from Morocco by boat
- Covid 19
- Coronavirus
- Containment
- Society
- Tourism
- Testimony