The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government announced today that the Chinese Embassy in Morocco will charter a flight to bring home Chinese citizens stranded in the country, including 27 Hong Kong residents.

The chartered flight is scheduled to depart from Casablanca at 4pm on April 9 local time (11pm the same day Hong Kong time) to arrive in Guangzhou by noon on April 10. The cost will be borne by the passengers.

Morocco has been in a state of national emergency since early March, imposing strict restrictions on all marine, land and air traffic. As a result, Hong Kong residents in Morocco cannot leave there on their own through normal flight arrangements.

As at noon today, the Immigration Department has received assistance requests from 158 Hong Kong residents concerning home passage from Morocco, and 113 have already returned to Hong Kong on different flights.

The 45 Hong Kong people who are still in the country are scattered in Casablanca, Marrakesh and six other cities. Eighteen of them will not take the chartered flight out of the country because of personal preference or other reasons.

The Hong Kong SAR Government will actively follow up with the Chinese Embassy in Morocco and a number of airlines to assist Hong Kong people to return via other possible means.

Under the Mainland's enhanced in-bound health management, all air passengers are required to undergo local 14-day isolation for medical surveillance, which is also applicable to passengers on board the chartered flight to Guangzhou.