NRIs registered to travel back to India anxious, confused due to lack of clarity

In many cases, the individuals who have registered, including those under priority cases, are yet to receive prior intimation of their travel.
NRIs land in India
NRIs land in India
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Lena* is in the eighth month of her pregnancy. Being a nurse at a private hospital in Saudi Arabia, she continues to work on a 12-hour shift, or rather, she has to work due to the staff shortage and growing COVID-19 cases in the country. She understands the risk of contracting the virus being pregnant.

That is why when Kerala government’s NORKA (Department of Non-Resident Keralites Affairs) opened its portal on April 26 — inviting Indians in foreign countries to register with them if they wished to return to Kerala — Lena was relieved. Three days later, the Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia, too, asked the Indian nationals who wished to return to Indiao fill a Google form.

Lena, a native of Kerala, registered as soon as the NORKA portal was opened, and waited.

Ideally, as per the guidelines issued by the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs, Lena falls under the priority category, that is, ‘compelling cases in distress — migrant workers/labourers who have been laid off, short-term visa holders faced with the expiry of visas, persons with medical emergency/pregnant women/elderly, those required to return to India due to death of a family member and students. 

On Tuesday, the Ministry of External Affairs announced that it is ready to bring back around 15,000 Indian nationals from countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Malaysia, Bangladesh, the United States of America and the United Kingdom. Termed as a ‘mass evacuation’ or Vande Bharat Mission, 64 repatriation flights will operate to bring back these stranded non-resident Indians (NRIs) over seven days, with the first set of flight services starting on May 7, Thursday.

With 80,000 expatriates, Kerala has the highest number of individuals registered to come back to the country.

However, as on May 6, Lena has not received an email from the Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia about her departure, barring a message confirming her registration. According to Lena, there are several other pregnant women in Saudi Arabia who have registered to return to India but have not received any intimation from the Embassy.

“I am ready to stay at a quarantine facility in Kerala. Cases in Saudi Arabia are increasing and if it rises further, the health facility here will not be able to handle it. Being pregnant and a medical staff, it will only pose a greater risk,” she told TNM.

Lena was in a state of anxiety when TNM spoke to her. Her husband is in Kuwait and she shares her room and the apartment with nurses who are on COVID-19 duty.

“Currently, due to Ramadan, some shops are open. Once it is over, they will be shut and the movement of people, especially my friends who send some food, will be restricted. This will affect my nutrition intake. Besides, when I enter my ninth month of pregnancy, my contraction will start and I may not be allowed to travel by flight,” said Lena explaining why it was important that she travels home at the earliest.

The dates of flights announced by the Indian government are nearing, and with no clarity on whether she will be able to leave, Lena is even more worried. She is under the sponsorship of the hospital and had resigned from work. Although her exit visa (authorised document to leave the county) was ready on April 18, the hospital has allegedly asked her to continue working since she is anyway yet to receive her air tickets.

“We will get our pending payment from the hospital only if we have the clearance certificate, which will take 15 days to be processed. Besides, my certificates are with the hospital. I need police clearance before I leave the country, without which I will not be able to work in another country. If the Indian government does not give us enough time to get these documents and asks us to leave on short notice, it will be difficult for pregnant women to run from pillar to post and complete all formalities,” she said.

Confusing procedures

Abdul*, his 35-week pregnant wife and five-year-old son were among the shortlisted travellers set to fly from UAE to Kozhikode on Thursday. He had sent all relevant health documents and received an email from the Indian Embassy on Tuesday, asking if he was ready to fly out. The next day, on Wednesday, however, Abdul decided not to travel.

“There is a lot of confusion in some procedures from the time we start our journey from Dubai to our arrival and quarantine facilities,” he told TNM, explaining why he backed out.

His fear, among others, was the lack of clarity on the COVID-19 testing for the travellers.

“On Tuesday, when I enquired, the Embassy said that all travellers will undergo tests for COVID-19. Two hours later, when I received another call from the Embassy, I enquired about the testing again. Air India, too, said all passengers will undergo only thermal screening...This time, they said, it will only be thermal screening. It put me in a dilemma. It is okay to stay at home than travel with a group of people, among whom, one may be infected. I cannot take a chance during such a time, as I am putting my pregnant wife and my child at risk,” he said.

There was lack of coordination between the Embassy and the airlines, alleged Abdul. “At 10 am (UAE time) on Wednesday, I informed them of my decision to back out. Two hours later, Air India called to confirm my travel,” he said.

Abdul’s dilemma was further confounded by the number of days in quarantine on reaching Kerala. “I thought we would be allowed to be in home quarantine. But then we were told it was a seven-day quarantine at a government facility. Some reports said the quarantine could extend upto 14 days or even 28 days. Everything was incoherent,” said Abdul.

Although the lack of support for his pregnant wife in UAE was what prompted him to return to Kerala, some friends have promised to help the family once they decided to cancel their travel plan.

Bearing own cost of travel

According to the Ministry of External Affairs, travellers will have to bear their own cost of travel.

“In Malaysia, more than 3,000 people have registered. Some have received an email from the Indian High Commission on Kuala Lumpur and others received calls from them. But, they did not know they had to pay for their flight tickets as well as the quarantine fees to the respective state governments,” said Shaju*, a member of an Indian association in Malaysia, who chose to remain anonymous.

There was a variation in the pricing of the tickets, too. In an email from Indian High Commission to one such passenger (the screenshot was accessed by TNM), the price of ticket charges is mentioned as Rs 30,000, but the Air India’s special flight fare for passengers from Malaysia is Rs 15,000.

Ramesh*, who is stranded in Sharjah after his visa expired after the lockdown in UAE, is hopeful he will be able to somehow arrange some money to buy his flight ticket to Lucknow if he gets a call from the Indian Embassy. A native of Uttar Pradesh, Ramesh had come to UAE for a three-month visit. He was engaged in farming activities. Since he did not have access to a phone number, his friend told TNM that his reserve of money is almost drained. “But he is managing. We will somehow make adjustments and help him buy tickets,” Ramesh’s friend said.

As far as the quarantine charges are concerned, the passenger will have to pay the respective state government to take care of him/her at a quarantine facility on his/her arrival. In a Times of India report, an Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) official estimated the daily expenses at a quarantine facility as Rs 1,400. This includes food, sanitisers, daily maintenance of the facility and the N-95 masks that need to be changed every six hours. 

These charges, however, depend on the decision of the state governments concerned. Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac said that the state government will not levy quarantine fees from the returnees.

In states like Tamil Nadu, the persons who are brought back to the state are asked if they want to be quarantined at a government facility or at private facilities like resorts. If the person chooses the latter, he/she will have to pay for their own expenses.

No prior intimation?

The Ministry of External Affairs said that it will display the schedule (day, place and time of arrival) of the incoming flight/ship on their online digital platform, with at least two days notice. However, this is no specific information on giving more than two days of notice to the registered individuals, if they would be travelling or not. 

An Indian Embassy official in Abu Dhabi told TNM that the passengers who have been scheduled to be flown out of UAE on May 7 were informed via phone calls on Monday and Tuesday. “The scheduled passengers get the call on their registered cell phone numbers as and when the flights are announced. They can book their tickets with Air India Express,” the official said.

When asked how many days prior to the departure of the flight are these passengers intimated, the official said there is “no fixed rule”.

Although the Indian government has not asked for a COVID1-9 negative certificate, UAE authorities have been doing rapid testing at airports for repatriation flights. “We hope the same for Indian nationals, too,” the official added.

(*Names changed on request)

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