And while their ship is coming in - others who are stuck out there in the hinterlands can't wait to get back home. But, it's an orderly and measured repatriation and CEO Burns says patience will be necessary:
Lou-Anne Burns Martinez
"Our good people in foreign affairs have and even those in the ministry of health through their hotlines had been peppered with calls of people who want to come and I want to come home now and I want the process to be done by Friday or Thursday and I am expecting to reach the border by Saturday. No, I'm sorry, but for safety it is not that simple. There are a lot of procedures that you don't see in the background involved in keeping each person coming in safe including everyone at the point of entry, our immigration markers, our baggage handlers - all our people at customs. This is an involved process, so I cannot at this time indicate how quickly how each case will be answered. To be fair we really have to assess and this is the reason we ask for the application so that we can get a kind of a view of where our people are spread out over the world, what are their situations, how desperate are you?, what is your condition, are you a student whose finish and really you are in a situation where you are running out of money and can't afford to be where you are anymore? What are the current Covid numbers where you are? How are you planning to return home, because there are different routes as well. All of these things have to be considered."
Dorian Pakeman
"Can you say how much applications you've received so far?"
Lou-Anne Burns Martinez
"In the first part of the day I think we were at 78 and it's over 200 now."
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