Thousands of foreign tourists stranded in Nepal, including Russians

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Thousands of foreign visitors have been stranded in Nepal until the end of May due to a quarantine announced by the country's government, the Post reported. The country received 22,450 foreign tourists by air in April, according to the Immigration Department. Of the total number of arrivals, 13,202 from India, 2,740 from the United States, 803 from China and 685 from Russia.

Currently, about 2 thousand unwitting prisoners are trying to fly from Kathmandu unsuccessfully, since flights due to a new surge in COVID have been suspended until midnight May 31, and may be extended further. Representatives of the Nepal Tourism Authority said their mobile hotlines were constantly ringing with angry tourists asking for flights back and now all foreign missions in Kathmandu have stepped up efforts to repatriate trapped trekkers and climbers.

As Russian Ambassador to Nepal Alexei Novikov said, “our tourists constantly arrive from remote regions of Nepal to Kathmandu, we register them, provide consular assistance. Today there are 273 Russians on the lists. Most of our citizens want to leave this country and are waiting for a repatriation flight to Russia".

According to him, «the embassy continues to seek permission from the local authorities for Aeroflot's flight from Moscow to Kathmandu and back to transport Russian citizens. We are making every effort to get such a flight, tentatively, it is scheduled for May 18».

According to the Nepal Tourism Board, there are currently about 2,000 foreign nationals in Kathmandu awaiting immediate evacuation. An additional 5,000 tourists are estimated to be in various trekking and mountaineering locations, and they are likely to return within the next two weeks before the rainy season starts in Nepal.