Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the African Union on the repatriation of (a) British citizens and (b) UK residents overseas during the covid-19 pandemic.

The UK is grateful for the continued support of our international partners, including African Union member states. Our African partners have assisted us in flying our citizens home, including by keeping key transit hubs open to air traffic. FCO officials at diplomatic missions in African Union member states maintain close engagement with local authorities to support UK residents in these countries and to discuss issues related to the repatriation of British Nationals. On 21 April, I spoke with the Commissioner of Social Affairs at the African Union Commission. We discussed the African Union-UK collaborative response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the work of the Africa Centres for Disease Control (Africa CDC). We also have a Senior Public Health England Advisor seconded to Africa CDC, to whom I spoke in April, and I have also spoken to our Ambassador in Addis Ababa on multiple occasions over the last three months, most recently on 7 May.