Maldivians in Ukraine travelling towards Hungary border

Ministry of Foreign Affairs revealed that all the remaining Maldivians in Ukraine are travelling towards the Hungary border to leave the country.

As per the ministry, all nine Maldivians were travelling to the western border by train and noted that the journey takes about 15-16 hours.

Additionally, the ministry stated that the student in Dnipro joined separately and that they are all close to the border now.

Prior to the borders shutting down, when the fears of war peaked many Maldivians travelled back to Maldives. Despite getting the chance to leave before war broke out, some were unable to leave due to visa-related issues, stated the ministry.

From those who were unable to leave at the time, Foreign Ministry was able to make arrangements for 15 students residing in Ivano-Frankivsk to cross the border, travel to Hungary’s capital Budapest, after discussions with the Hungarian government. Those students arrived in Maldives on Monday.

Additionally, a Maldivian, married to a Ukrainian was able to cross into Hungary, along with the couple's two young children.

Furthermore, the Ministry said that they have made the decision to provide assistance to students from Belarus and Russia, who wish to return to Maldives.

The students who want to return and work to try arrange online classes from their universities.

However, universities in Belarus had rejected the request stating that the situation does not warrant a switch to online classes for medical courses.

 There are 137 Maldivian students in Belarus pursuing higher education in the medical field.