The Foreign Minister of South Ossetia, Dmitry Medoev, in a commentary to IA Res told about the process of returning citizens from Russia to the Republic and conditions of quarantine.
Dmitry Nikolaevich, taking into account the current situation with the coronavirus pandemic and temporary closure of the border, how is the issue of transportation of citizens of the Republic to their homeland solved?
Time has shown that the measures taken by the leadership of South Ossetia were timely and absolutely correct. We managed to restrain the penetration of the virus for a rather long time. As for the measures taken by the Russian Federation, and then by the government of South Ossetia, regarding restrictions, a situation has arisen in which not a small number of citizens of our Republic have left for various reasons.
This also applies to students studying in Russian universities. As the pandemic spread, many educational institutions in Russia began to close for an indefinite time, and therefore, the question arose of returning students to their homeland.
I hope everyone understands that the state cannot remain aloof from the current situation. For example, the CIS countries, Abkhazia began to return their citizens. The operational headquarters decided to organize the return of our cadets studying at the educational institutions of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. And that was the right decision. Unfortunately, the tests performed showed a positive result in some of them, as well as in a number of other citizens. It should be emphasized here that all cases were detected not somewhere in the city, but in the conditions of quarantine.
How is the list of those who want to return to the Republic formed, given the fact that there are more people who want to return, in what order are the groups formed? When is the next group of citizens expected to arrive in the Republic?
Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been instructed to organize registration of citizens of the Republic and facilitate their return home. This is done by the Consular Agency of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Vladikavkaz, whose employees accept applications, record and form groups of 10 people according to the requirements of our doctors.
This work will be continued, since, again, civil rights, including the right of citizens to free movement, cannot be violated, not to mention the purely human side of the issue. It is impossible not to respond, for example, to families with children who want to come home. This also applies to people who underwent treatment in Russia and who are also returning to their home country upon completion.
At the next Headquarters meeting, a decision will be made to return the next group after our doctors declare their readiness. Not a single person will pass by the quarantine, this is an obligatory and most stringent condition for everyone.
It should be noted that there are more than 150 people who want to return to their homeland and have applied to the South Ossetian consulate in Vladikavkaz.
