About 20,000 Belgians stuck abroad, mainly in Peru, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand
The Belgian Foreign Minister Philippe Goffin has supplied more details about the Belgians stranded abroad because of the corona restrictions. Belgian "hotspots" turn out to be Peru, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia. It is not clear when the Belgian citizens will be able to return home.
Air traffic has almost come to a standstill to curb the spreading of the coronavirus, and when there is a flight, social distancing means that it's not at full capacity.
"In Peru, we have about 200 stranded Belgians or maybe more", explains Philippe Goffin. "We will focus on countries like this first, and next on countries where we have 20 or 30 Belgians." Mr Goffin adds that for other countries with smaller numbers of Belgians, the Belgian government hopes to cooperate with other countries for repatriation.
The former TV presenter Sabine De Vos got stranded in New Zealand. "In fact, there are two options: you can put up the pressure with the local diplomatic services, or you can hope for Belgium to send a repatriation flight."