Kathmandu, April 8
The Supreme Court has issued an interim order to the government, telling it to repatriate Nepalis facing hardship in meeting their basic needs abroad in the wake of the global coronavirus crisis.
A division bench of justices Deepak Kumar Karki and Manoj Kumar Sharma issued the order on Tuesday in response to the writ petition filed by advocates Mira Khadka Basnet and Manish Kumar Shrestha among others.
The court, however, has cautioned that all the Nepalis being repatriated this way should be quarantined for a certain period to protect the citizens from the coronavirus outbreak.
If repatriating them is not possible immediately, the government should make sure that they get basic facilities for food, shelter, and healthcare wherever they are, according to the court. It has told the government to take diplomatic initiatives to let Nepalis stranded abroad renew their visas if they have been expired in this hard time.
