The coronavirus is now causing serious concerns to the governments in terms of public health and economic wellbeing. Although, the virus has easily crossed borders, its consequences have to be managed mainly by the national governments. Most importantly, many countries have tried to bring back their citizens, who were travelling abroad as tourists or living in other countries. The countries of the European Union, for example, have been able to bring back 2,50,000 people from all over the world.
India, on the other hand, has imposed a strict lockdown, suspending all flights and not even allowing Indian citizen to return to their home country. There are more than 10- million Indian nationals abroad, in different capacities: there are students enrolled in universities, migrant workers in the Gulf, or tourists and business travellers, who were caught by surprise. The Indian government has tried to support them through its diplomatic missions but many are facing difficulties and wish to return as soon as possible.
All these are complex cases, but the one affecting Goa, Daman and Diu is particularly problematic. Dozens of thousands of people from these territories have acquired Portuguese passports in recent years even while not residing in Portugal, not speaking Portuguese language, and not having any regular linkage to the Portuguese government.
It is estimated, for example, that a lot of about 8,000 of seamen from Goa working on cruise ships and other merchant vessels hold a Portuguese passport. They remain regularly resident in Goa, benefitting from the Overseas Citizen of India card, but spend much of the year around the world.
Many of them are now caught in a bizarre situation, some of which caught in a type of no-man’s land, almost Stateless on the cruise and other ships anchored off the coast of Mumbai. They want to return to their homes in Goa, but they are Portuguese citizens and India is under lockdown, so Lisbon cannot help them. On the other hand, the Union government in Delhi cannot open an exceptional precedent to let them come on shore, if even Indian citizens are not allowed to enter India. So who will speak up for them?
It would be a fatal mistake for the cohesion of Goan society if a lot of these Portuguese of Goan origin were abandoned to their fate. Thousands of families are concerned about their wellbeing and the fact is that they are effectively resident in the State and contribute to its economy.
But where there is a will, there is a way. The last weeks saw a very positive collaboration between the governments of Portugal and India, with a crucial role played by the authorities in Goa. This was the case to repatriate many Portuguese citizens that want to return to Portugal. Repatriation logistics are quite complicated as it may involve permits to cross different districts and States, charter flight permits and special visa issuance or immigration services.
With assistance from the Embassy of Portugal in Delhi and the Consulate of Portugal in Goa, some 50 Portuguese were able to depart via Mumbai and Goa. Some 50 others in Diu are lobbying to leave, but this is not always easy.
"The Consulate works practically day and night to ensure successful repatriation", the Portuguese Consul General António Chrystêllo Tavares informed me.
He points out that repatriation can only be guaranteed for those that are tourists and temporary travellers to India, and not those that are ordinarily resident in India. A further complication is that many people may have obtained their Portuguese nationality based in fake documents and have no significant connection to Portugal.
But despite these problems, there is an excellent coordination with the Goa government as well as Central authorities in New Delhi.
Chrystêllo Tavares stresses the “the excellent and efficient support given by the Governments of Goa and Maharashtra and especially by Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant”. For example, despite the ban on international passenger flights, Goa accepted the request of many foreign countries for evacuation charter flight on a staggered schedule in coordination with Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Ministry of Civil Aviation.
“As for repatriation of the foreigners from Goa, the State government quickly connected with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), in particular the office of the designated COVID-19 Coordinator Dammu Ravi to collate status on the numbers and to coordinate modalities for return of these foreigners back to their host countries,” says Dattesh Parulekar, professor at Goa University.
With the goodwill of all the concerned and building on this cooperation, hopefully Lisbon, Goa and New Delhi can together find a pragmatic solution for the particular problem of the Portuguese nationals that are offshore, waiting to return to their homes in Goa and reunite with their families.
(The writer is the president of the Lusophone Society of Goa).