Emergency services worker and pregnant wife stranded in Bali amid coronavirus pandemic

An emergency services worker and his pregnant wife fear that they will become stranded in Bali after their flight home was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Husnain Rashid and Meymuna Ali flew to Bali for their honeymoon but say they cannot get on a flight back to the UK. Photo provided by the couple.Husnain Rashid and Meymuna Ali flew to Bali for their honeymoon but say they cannot get on a flight back to the UK. Photo provided by the couple.
Husnain Rashid and Meymuna Ali flew to Bali for their honeymoon but say they cannot get on a flight back to the UK. Photo provided by the couple.

Husnain Rashid, 30, and his wife Meymuna Ali, 29, flew to the Indonesian island for their Honeymoon two weeks ago.

They were due to spend a final week in Dubai before flying back home to Manchester Airport but their Emirates flight was cancelled at the last minute.

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The couple, from Bolton, booked onto a replacement flight back to the UK but that was also cancelled.

Husnain and Meymuna, who is currently five months pregnant with their first child, say they are now among hundreds of Britons who are stranded in Bali

Husnain, a former University of Bradford student, said: "We came to Bali for our honeymoon before any Foreign Office advisories were issued and before any airports were going into lock-down.

"It has only been two weeks but during our time here everything has moved so fast.

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"Borders across the world have closed suddenly and airlines have stopped flying.

"Our flight to Dubai on the 22nd was fully confirmed and it wasn't until we got to the airport to check-in that they told us that our tickets had been suspended.

"Emirates tried to put us on a flight back home the next day but there was an error and we were turned away again at the check-in desk.

"So far, we have spent four days going to and from the airport and being refused a flight home.

"We have been left stranded."

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Husnain, an emergency services call handler, is now worried that the couple will be stranded in Bali for months, putting Meymuna, a probation officer, at risk due to her underlying health problems.

He said: "Yesterday, a manager told us that Emirates and Etihad have suspended all flights for three months.

"We have contacted the consulate for help but they are saying flights are still operational. This isn't the case.

"The flights which are running are going via airports such as Singapore, Kuala Lumpar and other hubs which are on lock-down. We cannot travel through these countries.

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"The only flight available is Qatar airlines who are charging over £10,000 a flight - and there is no guarantee that they may not cancel as well.

"There are simply no flights out of Bali for British nationals.

"We are now among more than 300 British people stuck out here and some of the people are vulnerable with serious health conditions."

Yesterday, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said that the government are "engaging with numerous government's to keep commercial routes open particularly in transit hubs".

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Mr Raab added: "The Department for Transport is working closely with airlines to ensure travellers can re-book or find alternative routes home" and that he "spoke to the Singaporean foreign minister this morning and we have agreed to work together to help those stranded get back to their homes in the UK".

He said: "Given Singapore's role as a transit hub, this commitment to work with us to enable UK nationals to transit via Singapore is particularly important, not least for those currently in Australia or New Zealand."

Mr Raab said he wants to offer as much reassurance as possible, adding there are "hundreds of thousands" of Britons affected before noting: "With the national restrictions that are being imposed at pace, sometimes without notice, it's very difficult to give cast-iron guarantees about the situation."

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