On 22 August, 2020 Turkmen nationals were evacuated from India where they had been stranded since April, 2020 after the international air travel had been suspended due to the outbreak of coronavirus.
Up until present neither the Turkmen authorities nor local media outlets have reported on Turkmen nationals stranded abroad. The appeals of the human rights organization TIHR to the Ombudsperson and the Embassies of Turkmenistan in mid July were ignored. Financial support has not been provided to affected citizens.
However, on 22 August pro-government online Turkmen media outlets Arzuw, Turkmenportal, Infoabad and others published reports on repatriation of 133 Turkmen nationals from India.
It was reported that on 23 August, 2020 the Turkmen nationals who got stuck in Belarus will be repatriated to Turkmenistan from Minsk.Besides, according to media outlets, special evacuation flights will be organized from Dubai and Moscow.
It has not been mentioned whether Turkmen nationals will be evacuated from Istanbul.
At the same time, the state information agency TDH and state-run television are not making any coverage of the repatriation of Turkmen nationals.
Let us recall that all evacuated passengers are obliged to be quarantined for two weeks in a specially-designated area in the city of Turkmenabat.
It has not been reported why it took the authorities so long to organize evacuation flights.