Wednesday, December 30, 2020
IOM Sudan provided reception assistance to 145 Sudanese nationals, who returned from Beirut through a charter flight, facilitated by IOM Lebanon-IOM Sudan. The Charter flight arrived in Khartoum on the 21st of December 2020. The majority of returnees were adults but also included four children. Many of them were living and working in Lebanon, however, became vulnerable after having lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 impacts and the prolonged financial-economic crisis in Lebanon.

The returnees were escorted from Beirut airport by IOM Lebanon’s operational and medical staff and welcomed upon arrival at the Khartoum international airport by IOM Sudan’s operational team.

“It feels good to be home after ten long years of being in Lebanon, my life started getting difficult in the last few years, the economic situation became dire and I wasn’t able to provide for myself and my family anymore ” Says Hassan Ahmed, one of the returnees.

“I took a flight to Syria and walked six long hours to reach Lebanon, searching for a better life, that was ten years ago, now I’m finally home, I want to start my own family here and work at a restaurant” he says.

The returnees who live outside of the capital, Khartoum, were provided with one-night accommodation, meals and onward transportation to reach their final destinations.

All the returnees arrived with negative PCR test results conducted in Beirut and were provided with masks and hand sanitizers to protect them from COVID-19, as well as essential hygiene items to welcome them back in Sudan.

The reception assistance was provided within the framework of an IOM Sudan’s project in support of COVID-19 response, funded by the State Secretariat for Migration, the Federal Department of Justice and Police, the Swiss Confederation (@SwissEmbassyKhartoum).

The charter flight was supported with funding from German Humanitarian Assistance (GHA).

For more information please contact, Lisa George, Communications and Media Officer, IOM Sudan Email: IOMSudanmedia@iom.int