Katrina Jacob

BEIJING – A group of 25 Namibian students studying in China will return to the country this week via Zambia. 
The Namibian embassy in Beijing worked together with other embassies from the southern African region to ensure that students and other nationals are repatriated from China. 

The embassy reached an agreement with Rwanda Air to make two chartered flights available for this purpose and to repatriate students from China to Lusaka, Zambia. 
On 24 July the Zambian authorities granted permission for the 25 Namibian students to arrive through Kenneth Kaunda International Airport from China and to immediately transit by road through the Katima Mulilo border post. 
Due to the coronavirus crisis, many international students studying abroad have difficulty returning home after countries closed borders and restricted travel. Various flights to and from China have been virtually cancelled as Beijing tries to prevent infected travellers from reigniting the contagion there. 

The students are expected to arrive in Zambia today.
The Namibian Student Association in China has assisted students returning to Namibia by consolidating efforts with the mission in Beijing. Student representative Willy Munenguni assisted the group to register for the flights. He said there are, however, a number of students left in China as they could not secure a chance to purchase the limited flight 
tickets. 

Munenguni added that some of the remaining students are registered with another repatriation flight from Beijing to Johannesburg on 23 August. Preparations for this particular flight are still underway and bookings and registrations are being done with We Fly Africa.