Team Herald
PANJIM: Goa NRI Commission has received requests from two students stuck in Ukraine seeking help to get back home safely at the earliest amid threat of Russian invasion.
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“So far, we have received requests from two students through their families to repatriate them to Goa. They want to return to their home amid tension between Ukraine and Russia. We have written to the Embassy to do the necessary arrangements,” NRI Commissioner Advocate Narendra Sawaikar informed Herald.
The Centre has been making repeated appeals advising its citizens in Ukraine to temporarily leave that country as tension between Russia and NATO countries over the eastern European nation is escalating. The Indian embassy in Kyiv has also asked Indian nationals to avoid all non-essential travel to and within Ukraine.
While Goa has no data on the number of Goans living in Ukraine, it has come to the fore that Goan students prefer to study and practise medicine in former Soviet Union nations.
“We don’t have the data, although from our past experience we know that there are several students who are studying medicine in East European countries or former USSR. Naturally you can expect Goan students to be there,” NRI Goa Director Anthony D’Souza informed Herald.
In many cases, Goan community is quick to grasp the local language and is also involved in many community services. “They make themselves very comfortable. They are volunteers of community services. During the COVID-19 crisis too, several Goans in other countries decided to stay back to help the people there. In the present case, there is no panic situation at the moment,” an official from NRI Commission said.
There is also a possibility of Goans working in Ukraine; however, no inquiries have so far come. “Some of them might have even returned to India without contacting the NRI Commission. Since there is no restriction on the number of flights or travel duration, it is likely that some of them from Goa are already back in their home state,” the official added.
The Goa NRI Commission is in constant touch with the Ministry of External Affairs over the matter, which is the concerned authority to coordinate with all the concerned including the Embassy for repatriation.
