KOCHI: The central government on Wednesday claimed that out of the 20,000 Indian nationals in Ukrain, 60 per cent have already crossed the Ukrainian border and are safe.
"Out of the estimated 20,000 Indian nationals in Ukraine, 60 per cent (30 per cent reached India and 30 per cent in neighbouring countries) have already crossed the Ukrainian borders and are safe. The government is also taking necessary measures to evacuate the remaining 40 per cent of the Indian nationals by utilizing all its means," the central government submitted in the Kerala High Court.
The centre submitted this when the petition filed by a parent and Kerala High Court Advocates Association seeking to initiate steps to repatriate Keralite stranded in Ukraine came up for hearing.
The situation in Kharkiv in Ukraine is volatile and under heavy shelling and it is advisable for Indian students to stay put wherever they are for their physical safety, submitted S Manu, Assistant Solicitor General of India. He submitted that the Government of India is taking all necessary measures for repatriation of the Indians in general and students in particular.
The petitioners alleged that Indians are faced with mass discrimination and torture by Ukrainian Army and border petrol and also they are made to wait in extreme cold weather and one of the main reasons is the lack of presence of representatives of Indian Embassy.
The ASG replied that more than half a million Ukrainians and other foreign expatriates fled westward from conflict zones to land borders of neighbouring countries. This extraordinary exodus of lakhs clogged land borders.
"A number of Indians were also therefore stranded and initially inconvenienced on the land borders, particularly the land border with Poland, where lakhs had begun gathering from February 25. The reports of difficulties at the borders faced by some of our students, including insensitivity by border guards may be seen in the context of the situation in a war zone, and is also attributed to the overwhelming numbers, breakdown of systems and extreme weather conditions" submitted the ASG.
Indian Embassies in Ukraine's neighbouring countries-Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, and Poland are receiving the Indian evacuees, providing food, water and shelter to the extent possible, and also making arrangements for Indian rescue flights to take our nationals home.
The Embassies are utilising the Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF) for evacuation purposes and the evacuees are not paying flight charges for their repatriation to India.