Two women stuck in Argentina with their families have claimed they are "in the dark" about repatriation plans to bring them home.

Both Anna Chaile and Amy Dukart travelled to South America with their partners and children to visit extended family before the pandemic shut down most international travel and lockdown rules were implemented.

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Now the pair say they feel abandoned by the Foreign Office and are unsure how and when they will be able to safely return to their homes in Britain.

Ms Chaile, who lives in Borough Green, arrived in the country with her Argentinian husband on March 8 for a planned holiday to introduce their daughter to her father's side of the family. The World Health Organisation declared a pandemic days after they got there.

Soon the family were ordered to go into self-isolation at a family property, leaving them effectively cut off from the world.

She said: "It was really scary, the actual part of having a doctor and police come to the farmhouse with masks on, and then not to have any access to a telephone or internet to contact people and let them know what happened."

After a fortnight the family were issued with paperwork confirming they were free of the virus - but they remain stuck in Argentina despite Whitehall committing to a £75 million rescue fund to bring Brits back to the country.

Ms Chaile expressed doubts about where that money is being directed, because she knows of other British families stranded in the country facing airfares running into the thousands of pounds to secure a seat on a flight home.

Her concerns were echoed by Ms Dukart, who is from Orpington, but now along with many others is unable to get home.

She also arrived in Argentina with her husband and their twin boys for a much-anticipated visit to see relatives and introduce the children to them for the first time.

"It's been in the planning for such a long time," she said. "It's not something you can do at the drop of a hat, we got here on March 4 no problem, nothing going on over here, nothing to worry about.

"We enjoyed the first few days with the family then started hearing reports from the UK, the first signs of the virus spreading internationally at the beginning of March. We didn't really know about it before we left, then it all blew up as we got here.

"Within a week-and-a-half they started to announce possible lockdowns and really it all just happened overnight. One minute enjoying time with family and the next they announced the lockdown would be at midnight, everything closed.

"There was panic at first, what does this mean for us?"

Ms Dukart says the family are now booked onto their third provisional flight home - but they simply fear it will once again be cancelled, leaving them further out of pocket as refunds are not being processed.

Tom Tugendhat, who represents Ms Chaile as MP for Tonbridge and Malling, says he is in contact with a number of people who are abroad and trying to get back to the UK.

He said: "I think the government has got a real mixed picture here. There are some places where it’s done really very well, I'm thinking of places like Kenya where actually the government response has been very quick. In others it's been, frankly, much more patchy.

"And for those who I represent, I’m working hard to get them back. And there are people in places like Cambodia and Australia and India who I've been in communication with over recent weeks and that's something I’m doing now."

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