Cypriot students challenge flight ban as they seek to return home

Two overseas Cypriot students are challenging a ban on incoming flights from 28 countries imposed by the government in Nicosia on March 21 in response to the coronavirus epidemic, as they try to get back home, Cyprus media reported on Thursday.

According to the report, the unnamed students have filed complaints at the Nicosia district court and one at the administrative court, challenging the legality of the ban and asking for permission to return home.

“Every citizen has the right to exercise their legal rights at the courts. The government has the right to and obligation to defend the necessity and legality of the painful measures which were taken in the interest of the public good,” Attorney General Costas Clerides told the Cyprus News Agency.

The Foreign Ministry reportedly looking into repatriating Cypriots that belong to vulnerable groups, while the government set up a program for students stuck aboard granting them a bonus of 750 euros if they do not try to return for the Easter holidays.

The two-week ban, meanwhile, was extended for another two weeks on Thursday to April 17.