A WOMAN stranded thousands of miles away from her teenage son in Cornwall says she feels let down by the UK Government.

Samanatha Lindsay and her husband Ian travelled to the Philippines in early March to visit Samantha’s elderly parents. Not wanting to miss a month off school, their 14 year old son Fionntan stayed behind with his grown-up siblings.

But when aircraft were grounded in the global coronavirus lockdown, the Lindsays, who live in Looe, found themselves stuck. Their travel company would not transfer their tickets to a later flight, and their insurance company have still not confirmed if it will cover the lost tickets.

In the meantime, repatriation flights for British people left Manila and other locations in the Philippines on April 7. But the cost of the flight was £1000 per person – at double the cost of their original tickets, the Linsdays say this is more than they could afford.

Samantha’s claim that some repatriation flights are taking off with few people on board are backed up by stories on forums for British nationals stuck abroad.

The issue, aside from the cost, says Samantha, is that travel to the main airport is not always possible due to internal restrictions.

’We think we may be looking at mid to late May now before restrictions are relaxed and we can get on a commercial flight home. We continue to hope that our insurer will respond positively to our claim,’ said Samantha.

’ It is terrible, our son is beginning to feel a little unsettled with the situation, and we miss him so very much.

’The president here is beginning to talk about marshal law, Philippine nationals are becoming rather dismissive of the current lockdown and this is giving a cause for concern to the government here.

’Thankfully in our barangay (district) there are no instances of Coronavirus.

’I have to ask, where have the millions gone which were pledged to assist British citizens home?

’There has been no insistance that flight agents and providers acknowledge their contractural obligation and get people home.

’There is also a disparity in the cost of repatriation flights. Why can Peru to UK cost £250 yet Philippines to UK be £1000?

’I cannot say how let down I feel. I am having to make a decision about finances, my young son and physically fragile husband whilst stranded abroad.’

A spokesperson for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) told The Cornish Times : ’We know this is a difficult time for the remaining British travellers in the Philippines, and we are working around the clock to support them.’

An estimated 1.3m travellers have now returned home using commercial flights, following negotiations between the UK Government, foreign governments, and airlines, said the FCO.

The UK Government has repatriated more than 8,000 people on 38 flights from 13 different countries and territories, including 230 from the Philippines.

The FCO said that flights were costed differently based on country of origin. The UK had a responsibility to the taxpayer, it said, which is why the flights were not free, and passengers were being asked to pay a share of the overall cost.

The repatriation effort from the Philippines has included getting 180 people from outer islands to Manila on special charter flights.

MP for South East Cornwall Sheryll Murray said that while commercial flights were currently leaving the Philippines with connections to the UK, domestic flights were suspended, and international travel as a whole is still heavily disrupted.

’The British Embassy in Manila is in contact with airlines, the Philippine authorities and other governments to make sure commercial options for returning to the UK continue to remain open as long as possible,’ she said.

’I am dealing with a number of cases of people who are or were abroad and have had difficulty coming home to the UK, and I am working with the Foreign Office to push for ways to resolve these where possible.’