175 Egyptian students en route to Cairo from Ukraine via Bucharest

Ahram Online , Tuesday 1 Mar 2022

An Air Cairo flight took off from Bucharest for Cairo on Tuesday evening carrying 175 Egyptian students who fled Ukraine into Romania following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Egyptian students in Bucharest
The Egyptian students before boarding the aeroplane to return to Cairo from Bucharest on Tuesday (Photo : Al-Ahram)

According to news reports, there are a total 181 passengers on the flight, which was dispatched upon directives from Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi. The flight is also carrying members of the Egyptian Red Crescent who were sent to provide any necessary medical aid.

Egyptian Ambassador Moayad El-Dalie said in earlier media statements that another group of nearly 200 Egyptian students were on their way to cross the Romanian-Ukrainian borders.

He added that the Egyptian embassy in Bucharest has already provided accommodation for the Egyptian students at student hostels in the city.

Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine started last week, around 6,000 Egyptians lived in Ukraine, including 3,000 students studying at the country's universities, especially in medicine.

The Russian invasion continued for the sixth day on Tuesday, claiming scores of lives and forcing more than 500,000 people to flee from the country, according to the UN.

Egypt has not recorded any deaths of Egyptian students, but an Egyptian citizen was injured in an airstrike in Kharkiv over the weekend and is currently in stable condition, according to officials.

The government has instructed the Egyptian embassy in Kyiv to provide all the necessary support and care to the injured Egyptian national and other Egyptian expats in Ukraine.

More than 1,200 Egyptian students have arrived in Poland and 250 others have reached Romania from Ukraine, Egypt’s Minister of Emigration and Expatriate Affairs Nabila Makram said on Monday.

Egypt has urged expats in the western cities of Ukraine to move to neighbouring Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania. However, authorities affirmed that Egyptians in the capital Kyiv and eastern cities, which are under heavy Russian attack, should stay at home and shelters.

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