KOCHI: Five days ago, when Warsaw-based Keralite Binochan K, 43, reached the Polish-Ukrainian border crossing near Budomierz, about 80km away from Lviv, he saw hundreds of Indians waiting in queues to get to Poland.
Seeing the difficulties his countrymen faced in getting food and shelter after walking over 30km in freezing weather to the border, the Changanassery native decided to help them in his own right. He along with other like-minded Keralites in Poland formed a group with the help of the Indian embassy in that country. Now known as Help Ukraine Mallus, the group has been helping several Indians, including Keralites, cross the border to Poland.
Binochan’s job gets tougher with each passing day. According to him, many Indians are still trapped in Ukraine’s interior areas while soldiers harass those people who reach the border. “We are doing our best to help the stranded Keralites cross the border to Poland. Arrangements have been made to provide them with food, medicine and shelter. The WhatsApp group has helped us coordinate our activities effectively,” Binochan told TNIE over phone.
Keralites join rescue ops in Poland
Kondotty native Mohammed Rafi, who has been living in Warsaw for six years, said many Keralites are joining the rescue activities as volunteers. “We have more than 250 volunteers working round the clock at various places in Poland to help the Indians,” said Rafi, who added that all Indian cultural organisations and associations in Poland have joined hands in the rescue mission.
“From the information we have been receiving, hundreds of Indians are still holed up in the bunkers in Ukraine, unable to get to the border posts. Many border posts are closed and there is a lot of confusion. The Indian government must hold talks with the authorities concerned so that a rescue team could reach out to the stranded Indians in the interiors of Ukraine and bring them to safer locations,” said Rafi.
Binochan said nearly 400 Indians including Keralites cross over to Poland from Ukraine daily. The group is also coordinating rescue activities at the border crossings in Korczowa-Krakovets and Shehyni-Medyka apart from Budomierz.