The government has decided to send care packages from families to stranded Maldivians in Malaysia via the first repatriation flight of the national carrier, Maldivian, arranged to Malaysia.
The administration has requested families to register the packages via the foreign ministry website. Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated the first 500 will be given the chance to send their packages on the first repatriation flight to Malaysia. The ministry stated the packages will be collected at the counters located near the departure hall at Velana International Airport (VIA) from 0800 hours until 1600 hours on April 7, 2020.
The ministry further stated only packages weighing less than 15 kilograms which include items of urgent importance or medicine unavailable in Malaysia can be sent as care packages. Items permitted to be sent to Malaysia include medicine, tuna tins, noodles, tuna paste in original packing. Processed and packed fish, fried leaves can also be included in the package.
The foreign ministry has banned people from including staple food, cigarettes and tobacco items, short eats and unprocessed food, in addition to fruits and vegetables. Families have been instructed to bring packing materials along with the package when handing it over to the officials as the parcel will be packed after inspection from Maldives Customs and Aviation Security Command. The packages will be taken to the Maldivian Embassy in Malaysia which will distribute the items.
While the ministry has announced arrangements to care packages via the first repatriation flight to Malaysia, the bookings for the flight have reached full capacity. The national flag carrier, Maldivian, announced via a tweet the airline has stopped booking for the flight as it is now full.
Maldivian will use a flight with a capacity to repatriate 200 Maldivians. The tickets for the flight were sold at USD 330.
Island Aviation Services Limited (IASL), which operates Maldivian, has been negotiating to arrange repatriation flights for stranded Maldivians overseas. Maldivian has also arranged repatriation flights to Cochin, India and Colombo, Sri Lanka, and brought 100 Maldivians and 188 Maldivians from Sri Lanka and India respectively. The people who returned from India included 117 Maldivians who were stranded due to the suspension of international flights.
The administration is also negotiating with other countries to arrange repatriation flights to bring home Maldivians who are stranded overseas.