KRG evacuates 325 students from Cyprus amid COVID-19 crisis

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – On Monday evening, 325 students arrived at Erbil International Airport via an exceptional flight from Cyprus to the Kurdistan Region.

In a press conference held at the airport, Jutyar Adil, the spokesperson for the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), confirmed that the 325 students were evacuated from Cyprus.

“The evacuated students are not all citizens of the region, and we do not distinguish between them,” Adil said, as Iraqi students were also included in the flight. He said the returnees would be subject to quarantine in Erbil.

Adil explained that the KRG had covered all the expenses to bring the students back, noting that “there are other Kurdish students who will be evacuated, and we are coordinating with the federal government to accomplish that.”

“We want to thank all the institutions, ministries, government representations, and the federal government for their cooperation in bringing the students back,” Adil added.

On March 28, the Iraqi Civil Aviation Agency announced that the suspension of commercial flights to and from all Iraqi airports, including the Kurdistan Region, would continue until April 11 to curb the spread of coronavirus.

The initial decision came on March 17, when the Civil Aviation Agency suspended flights for a week until March 24 as the government began to take preventive measures to counter the spread of the novel coronavirus, officially referred to as COVID-19.

As the order was about to expire on March 24, the Civil Aviation Agency extended the suspension of commercial flights until March 28.

Elsewhere on Tuesday, the KRG’s Ministry of Health announced a new case of coronavirus in Erbil, marking 162 confirmed cases of the disease in the Kurdistan Region, including two deaths and 57 recoveries.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany