Coronavirus outbreak: Namibia students desperate to evacuate China
by ANA Reporter
Rustenburg - Namibian students studying in China want to be evacuated, with some feeling abandoned by the government as they watch the evacuation of other international students from coronavirus-hit Wuhan, state-owned daily newspaper The New Era reported.
It said Namibian students based in the city at the centre of the outbreak were confined to their dormitories, hoping to avoid infection.
They have called for help through Chinese social media platform WeChat, begging the Namibian government, its embassy in China and other stakeholders to facilitate and negotiate a strategy for their evacuation, but to no avail.
A Namibian student at Hubei University of Technology in Wuhan, Jeffrey Gaseb, told the newspaper it felt like life was at a standstill.
"Students have been indoors for almost 20 days now and it is becoming a mental battle for some and that is something that most students cannot deal with. We understand that evacuating students from China will cause a rift in the relationship between Namibia and China but at the same time we are risking ourselves everyday here," Gaseb said.
"If the government cannot afford to evacuate us, at least let them talk to our parents and see if we cannot add some money ourselves and with their help we try and get out of here while we are still in a healthy condition."
African News Agency (ANA)