Mbabane: Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Senator Thuli Dladla has said as government they have learnt with dismay that some parents of students studying in the USA did not cooperate with government procedures regarding the repatriation of their children back to the country.
Dladla said when the pandemic started early this year government laid down clear procedures which would enable the easy and effective way of repatriating the students.
The minister told Independent News that the students were told that they needed to form groups and approach the nearest embassy, which in this case would be in New York and Washington DC, which would then arrange an agent for the negotiation of a sizeable discount. “The agent would arrange with the Ethiopian Airlines for a cheaper air fare,” said Dladla, adding that this would only be possible if the students came in one big group.
The minister went on to say that without a reason, some parents differed with the idea and sought their children to be flown individually, which proved impossible because at the end, only two students were able to travel on their own to Ethiopia, Addis Ababa.
Those that adhered to government’s advice were flown into the country from Addis Ababa through the King’s airplane, Siyinqaba 2 Flight.
Dladla mentioned that subsidizing the overseas flights would be very difficult in light of the already ailing economy. And the only remedy that government could offer was linking the students with embassies who would arrange agents for fare discounts, and then picking the students from Addis Ababa to KM III Airport.
It has been reliably gathered that flying from Washington DC to Addis Ababa cost around 2 300 US Dollars, an equivalent of about E45 000, which has proved an exorbitant amount to raise in such short notice.
Parents should rethink repatriating children – Dladla
The minister made an observation against the repatriation of children studying abroad citing the grip tightened by the COVID-19 pandemic. Dladla said with the rising numbers of the COVID-19 cases the country might be seen and declared as a high risk territory, which would render it difficult for the students to return abroad at the resumption of studies. She observed that rather the children be left and monitored in those countries while also studying online, which would assist in not getting the children to be left behind.
Eswatini Ambassador in the USA Njabu Gwebu echoed the minister’s words saying the children who could not make it to Eswatini were those who wanted things done their way instead of adhering to government and the country’s embassy in the USA, which would help in the negotiation of cheaper air fares. She said their remaining behind was due to not affording the air tickets and the lockdown which has covered some states in the USA.
Gwebu advised that the air fares will hike once the dust settles and it might be a good idea that the children who couldn’t make it to the country stay put and save the money that would be needed to go back. When the embassy began organizing the student there were around 45 who indicated to return to the country but in the end 35 registered with the embassy. “The Ethiopian Airline could only take 25 people and the result was that the ten (10) were left behind,” said the ambassador. She lamented what she called a stubborn attitude on the part of some of the students who couldn’t make it home saying they resorted to heeding advices by friends who misled them.
I am working from home – Eswatini ambassador to the USA Eswatini ambassador to the USA Njabu Gwebu mentioned that she was working from home due to the lockdown in many states of the USA. Gwebu is based in Washington DC and as many diplomats she relishes the use of technology and collaborates with colleagues in the US. Gwebu said she is not on holiday while in the country but working full time and once the dust settles she will hasten back to the US.
Discussion about this post