Covid-19 has led to an increasing number of countries shutting down flights going in and out.

One such country is Slovenia, in Eastern Europe. It banned air traffic earlier this month, March 17, to stop the spread of Covid-19.

Amidst the restrictions, one Singaporean found himself stranded in Slovenia.

Nazrul Syahmi had gone backpacking in the region on February 26, 2020, before Singapore's restrictions to defer essential travel.

Slovenia was the last stop in his Eastern European backpacking trip, but now he faced the very real possibility of being stuck in a foreign land as borders continued to close.

Member of Parliament (MP) Amrin Amin shared how the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and Singapore's High Commissioner to the UK Foo Chi Hsia and her team helped to bring Nazrul back.

Nazrul's father had approached Amrin at a meet-the-people session in Woodland, he had also been referred to former NMP Calvin Cheng, who had offered to help Singaporeans stranded overseas.

They informed MFA.

Tapping on their contacts and "various options" through Europe, MFA plotted Nazrul's "marathon journey" back home.

"I spoke with Nazrul about his journey home. Team MFA worked hard, looked at various options and called on their contacts for Nazrul’s marathon journey home from Slovenia to Vienna, then to Amsterdam and London before landing home on 28 Mar."

Even after Nazrul entered Singapore, and most likely started his 14-day Stay-Home Notice, MFA still checks up on him.

Which Amrin called "dedication and commitment, serving beyond the call of duty".

Here's the full story.