All posts tagged: repatriation

Hantavirus repatriation flights lands in UK after evacuation from cruise ship | UK | News

Hantavirus repatriation flights lands in UK after evacuation from cruise ship | UK | News

Published by Sam Flores

Brits evacuated from the cruise ship hit by a hantavirus outbreak have arrived in the UK after being repatriated from Tenerife. A chartered Titan Airways flight transported the passengers from the Canary Islands, landing at Manchester Airport on Sunday evening. The 20 British passengers, who were tested for hantavirus before getting on the flight, will be taken to isolate at the UK’s initial Covid quarantine site at Arrowe Park Hospital in the Wirral. The MV Hondius arrived in Tenerife on Sunday morning, with Spanish authorities beginning evacuations of the cruise ship by nationality and ferrying passengers to a port by small boat. While they were being taken from the port at Granadilla de Abona to Tenerife South Airport, some British passengers waved and gave thumbs up as they passed the watching media. Passengers were told to leave their luggage on the ship and were only allowed to take a small bag with essential items such as their phone and passport. Spanish authorities said on Sunday that no passengers on the ship were showing symptoms of …

EU countries prepare repatriation of hantavirus ship passengers – POLITICO

EU countries prepare repatriation of hantavirus ship passengers – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

Hantavirus is a disease typically spread by infected rats. As of Friday, there were a total of six confirmed cases of a hantavirus variant — named the “Andes” subtype — linked to the cruise ship and two probable cases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The Andes subtype is the only variant known to spread among humans. The WHO has sought to calm fears that the outbreak could trigger a global health emergency on the scale of Covid-19. The Spanish government’s plans to let the cruise ship, the MV Hondius, arrive in Tenerife have provoked controversy, including among Canary Islands leaders. The ship will anchor off Tenerife without docking. Passengers will then be ferried to the industrial port of Granadilla and transported in “sealed, guarded vehicles, through a completely cordoned-off corridor” before being repatriated directly to their home countries, according to WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Ghebreyesus is set to travel to Tenerife with Spain’s interior and health ministers to coordinate the arrival of the cruise ship. Ghebreyesus addressed the people of Tenerife directly via …

Former IS group child ‘fighters’ jailed in Iraq seek repatriation to France

Former IS group child ‘fighters’ jailed in Iraq seek repatriation to France

Published by Sam Flores

Three Frenchmen held in Iraq, forced to work for the Islamic State group as children, are seeking repatriation on the grounds they were victims of war, their lawyers said Friday. International humanitarian law prohibits the recruitment and use of children in hostilities. The men – taken to Syria by their jihadist parents aged 11 or 12 then made to take part in propaganda videos, fight or join IS group police – have filed legal documents in France claiming they were the victim of a war crime over their recruitment, a source with knowledge of the case told AFP. The three detainees are part of 5,700 suspected IS group “fighters” of 61 nationalities transferred from Syria to neighbouring Iraq earlier this year. France is investigating them for alleged “terrorist” crimes while in Syria. WatchIn Syria, fate of French families in IS group camps remains uncertain But according to their lawyers arguing for their repatriation, the French judicial system should instead be considering them as “war victims”. “No child chooses to be enlisted, and France is displaying the worst …

Mexico Calls on eBay to Halt Sales of Pre-Columbian Artifacts

Mexico Calls on eBay to Halt Sales of Pre-Columbian Artifacts

Published by José Betancourt

The culture ministry of Mexico has called on eBay to remove sale listings for 195 pre-Colombian artifacts, claiming they were obtained by way of “illicit extraction” and that they should be returned to their country of origin. As reported by The Art Newspaper, the case was made public when Mexico’s secretary of culture, Claudia Curiel de Icaza, wrote in a posting on X that the Orlando, Florida–based enterprise Coins Artifacts was selling objects deemed part of Mexico’s cultural heritage by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH). In a letter sent to eBay, Curiel de Icaza demanded that the company “immediately suspend the sale and return the items to the Mexican government,” adding that the export of such objects has been illegal since 1827. Related Articles INAH’s legal department “filed a complaint with the office of Mexico’s Attorney General and notified its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as Interpol and US authorities including Homeland Security Investigations in an effort to halt the sale,” according to TAN. But a confidentiality policy related to the …

Singapore planning repatriation flight for citizens, dependents from Saudi Arabia

Singapore planning repatriation flight for citizens, dependents from Saudi Arabia

Published by Sam Flores

SINGAPORE: Singapore is planning to dispatch a repatriation flight for Singaporeans and their dependents from Saudi Arabia between Mar 10 and Mar 12.  The date and time are subject to flight approvals and the situation on the ground, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said.  “We will reach out to Singaporeans again once the details are confirmed,” MFA said in a form for Singaporeans to express interest in the repatriation flight and overland transport. Overland transport from Doha, Manama, Al Khobar and Jeddah to Riyadh for the flight will be provided one day before the flight date.  There will be no overland transport provided for travellers who are in other parts of the region.   Separate arrangements may be made for Singaporeans in Jordan and Kuwait to the decided point of embarkation, MFA said.  MFA said it would follow up with Singaporeans who indicate interest once the flight is confirmed and payment to reserve seats on the flight can be made then.  No meals will be provided on the flight. Baggage allowance will be capped …

France Returns Looted “Talking Drum” to the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire

France Returns Looted “Talking Drum” to the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire

Published by Jenni Sidey

In a ceremony held on Friday at the Musée Quai Branly in Paris, France officially returned a drum known as the “talking drum” or Djidji Ayôkwé, to the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire. The news was reported by French newspaper Le Monde. The ten-foot-long, 940-pound drum has a single-piece soundbox slit in half longitudinally. Extending out from the slit are two planks, one of which supports a carving of a jumping leopard. The box itself is decorated with carved faces and geometric patterns. Related Articles The drum was once used by Côte d’Ivoire’s Atchan/Ebrié people to transmit messages between villages many miles apart, including warnings of impending recruitment operations by French colonial troops. It was seized by French authorities in 1916 as a way of suppressing local resistance. Between 1916 and 1930, the drum was kept outside the French governor’s Ivorian home. It was transferred to France in 1929 and housed most recently at the Musée Quai Branly, where it recently underwent restoration. The drum topped a list of 148 objects that Côte d’Ivoire requested from …

In a First, Portugal Returns Looted Antiquities to Mexico

In a First, Portugal Returns Looted Antiquities to Mexico

Published by José Betancourt

In a sign of growing international cooperation in the restitution of looted artifacts, Portugal has returned three pre-Columbian objects to Mexico. This will be the first time Portugal has repatriated unlawfully acquired antiquities to that country. The three pieces represent distinct pre-Hispanic periods and cultures. They include a Shaft Tomb Culture female figure, a Maya painted vessel, and a Zapotec urn. According to a press release from Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the handover took place at the Mexican embassy in Lisbon on February 12. The objects will be returned to Mexico in the coming weeks. Related Articles “This return confirms that international cooperation protects who we are,” said Claudia Curiel de Icaza, Mexico’s Secretary of Culture. “Each restitution restores memory and identity to Mexico and reaffirms the shared commitment to combating the trafficking of cultural property.” The objects were originally flagged by the embassy in Portugal, which notified Portuguese authorities of their existence. Specialists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), an agency of the Ministry of Culture, subsequently reviewed photographs provided …

Macron-Backed Bill to Return Colonial-Era Art Passes French Senate

Macron-Backed Bill to Return Colonial-Era Art Passes French Senate

Published by Jenni Sidey

French senators have unanimously adopted a bill designed to simplify the return of artworks looted during the colonial era, a move that advances President Emmanuel Macron’s long-running effort to recast France’s relationship with its former colonies. The legislation now heads to the National Assembly, where it must still be approved before becoming law. Macron has made restitution a central plank of his cultural and diplomatic agenda since taking office in 2017, going further than any of his predecessors in publicly acknowledging abuses committed during France’s colonial rule in Africa. During a visit to Ouagadougou that year, he pledged that France would facilitate the return of African cultural heritage within five years, framing restitution as part of a “new relationship” with the continent, according to the Agence France-Presse. Related Articles France currently holds tens of thousands of artworks and artifacts taken from its former empire, but existing laws have made restitution cumbersome, requiring a separate parliamentary vote for each object removed from the national collection. The new bill aims to streamline that process by targeting items …

The U.S. Repatriated Seven Ancient Artifacts to Egypt

The U.S. Repatriated Seven Ancient Artifacts to Egypt

Published by Jenni Sidey

Thanks to the collaboration of several government organizations in the United States and Egypt, seven artifacts were recently repatriated to Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. The objects had been smuggled from the country in separate cases and are from different time periods, according to Shaaban Abdel Gawad, director-general of the Repatriation of Antiquities Department and supervisor of the Antiquities Units in Ports. The news was first reported in Egyptian news outlet Ahram Online. Five of the objects in question were initially smuggled out of Egypt in 2017 (two mummified fish and a falcon head from the Ptolemaic period) and 2018 (a bronze amulet of Set, the ancient Egyptian god of deserts, storms, disorder, violence, and foreigners; a basald scarab; and a carved face). Related Articles The other two items—a painted wooden funerary figurine and a stone head from a statue—were given to the Egyptian embassy in Washington by an unnamed American citizen who felt they should be returned to Egypt. The repatriated objects were handed over to Ambassador Wael el-Naggar, assistant foreign minister for …

France and Mexico Agree to Exchange Pair of Pre-Hispanic Manuscripts

France and Mexico Agree to Exchange Pair of Pre-Hispanic Manuscripts

Published by José Betancourt

In May 2025, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Mexico City. It was Macron’s first official visit to Mexico, and was an important step in Mexico’s recent attempts to bolster trade relations with Europe. While much of the meeting focused on economic relations between the countries, Sheinbaum also announced that France and Mexico agreed to temporarily exchange a pair of handwritten codices. The Codex Azcatitlán, housed in Paris’s Bibliothèque Nationale de France, will travel to Mexico City, while the Biblioteca Nacional de Antropología e Historia will loan its Codex Boturini to Paris. Due to conservation concerns, neither are frequently on view in their respective libraries, and they rarely travel, according to The Art Newspaper. Related Articles Both pre-Hispanic illustrated manuscripts tell the story of the Aztecs’ migration to Tenochtitlan (present-day Mexico City). The Italian historian for whom the 16th century Codex Boturini is named was forced to leave the manuscript behind when he left what was then known as “New Spain”; it has remained in Mexico since 1825. Mexico has …