Are there any countries that won't let foreigners leave the country or return home during pandemics? Governments might charter planes to bring their citizens back home, but are there countries that wouldn't allow that to happen?
asked Mar 21, 2020 at 16:06
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1Do you ask about the current situation or at random times in the past?– Willeke ♦Mar 21, 2020 at 16:17
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@Willeke as travel restrictions weren't recommended against the swine flu it'd probably be the current situation. But, the Zika epidemic applies to the Americas.– Mikael Dúi BolinderMar 21, 2020 at 16:21
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4I'm voting to close this question because it asks for n open-ended list where all answers are equally valid, which is poorly suited to the Stack Exchange Q&A format.– chosterMar 21, 2020 at 20:18
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2@choster: I agree that this question is a poor fit for this site, but for kind of the opposite reason that you cite. The only correct answer to this question would list EVERY country that does not allow foreigners to leave, which is about as in-motion a target as you can come up with. So rather than inviting too many possible answers and no way to choose between them, this question is actually impossible to answer accurately.– MarthaMar 22, 2020 at 3:00
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1@Martha But the issue is that if the OP had asked for just 1 country/airport, then it would have been closed as too narrow, e.g. What percentage of international flights departing from Manila are cancelled due to Duterte's lockdown on Metro Manila from 2020-03-15 to 2020-04-14?. Also, one can answer the OP's question with a pointer to some lists, as I did.– Franck DernoncourtMar 22, 2020 at 21:12
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1 Answer
Luzon island (where Manila is located) in Philippines decided to ban outbound international flights, but the decision was reversed a few days later:
The airline will announce the status of its international flights from March 20 to April 12 at a later date, as it coordinates with authorities.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1096970:
The Department of Tourism (DOT) has lauded the lifting of the travel ban on outbound passengers, except Filipino tourists, in line with the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine.
Peru also has a lockdown: https://www.tennessean.com/in-depth/news/health/2020/03/20/americans-stranded-peru-coronavirus-lockdown/2873582001/
Some found out when a hotel clerk banged on their door late Sunday night to say they had 24 hours to get out of the country
- Albania and Slovenia: All flights suspended.
- Jordan: No commercial flights in or out of Jordan, and all land and sea borders closed.
- Luxembourg: All passenger flights suspended from 23 March.
- Pakistan: All flights suspended until 4 April
- Tajikistan: All flights suspended from 20 March
- etc.
Other lists:
answered Mar 21, 2020 at 16:23
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""Passenger flights suspended" does not mean you cannot leave overland. I seriously doubt that Slovenia or Luxemburg would not at least let citizens of neighbouring countries leave.– JanJul 12, 2020 at 9:00
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@Jan good point, I am guessing you're right. I think in the list, Philippines is the most likely to have truly prevented anyone from leaving and even though I'm assuming one could have left by boat with enough motivation. I think I had only considered the air transportation when writing the answer, which doesn't proper address the title of the question. And even though, in many cases "All flights suspended" still allowed repatriation flights, eg Thailand. Jul 12, 2020 at 9:05