Covid-19: Help students stranded in France return home, says Parents

With an increasing number of Covid-19 cases in France, city parents have requested the ministry of external affairs (MEA) and Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to help

With an increasing number of Covid-19 cases in France, city parents have requested the ministry of external affairs (MEA) and Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to help them in bringing back their children to India.

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A parent who requested anonymity said that his daughter, along with 20 students from the EDHEC business school, need to be evacuated. “I had booked a ticket for my daughter in March, but it got cancelled owing to the lockdown. Air India will start with the bookings only after April-end. How will the students survive there for another month, especially when the cases in France are increasing?”

He also added that the students are facing some trouble getting provisions. “The Indian High Commission had already asked the stranded students and Indians to register in this regard, but there has been no development after that,” the parent said. The EDHEC business school, on its website, has also asked all its international students to return home to their families and continue studies remotely.

Another parent that HT spoke to, who also requested anonymity, said, “We have been making requests to all authorities via social media to help the students come back since there have been flights from India to take French nationals back to their country,” he said.

Recently, 112 French nationals in Kerala were flown out on a special Air India flight to France owing to the lockdown. As on Wednesday, France has 78,167 positive cases with the death toll crossing 10,000.