One lakh Indians stranded in foreign countries rescued in last 4 years

Most prominent of these rescue missions were from regions hit by civil war such as Syria, Yemen and Iraq

The external affairs ministry has helped rescue more than one lakh Indians in the last four years stranded in different parts of the world. The most prominent of these rescue missions were from regions hit by civil war such as Syria, Yemen and Iraq.

Syrian Soldiers ride a scooter through a devastated part of Yarmouk in the Syrian capital Damascus, Syria, October 6, 2018. Syria is one of the places from where Indians have been rescued by the Indian government over the last four years. (AP)

In the last four years, 1,01, 337 Indians in foreign countries hit by conflicts, natural disasters and other challenging situations were rescued by the government.

“India has always been at the forefront in helping nationals, be it the conflict zone in Iraq or Yemen or from any other country which was affected by natural calamity. At times, we have set an example for the world by helping foreign nationals as well. We have also helped many who were stuck in different problems,” said Dnyaneshwar M Mulay, secretary (consular, passport, visa and overseas Indian affairs) in the ministry of external affairs.

Mulay was referring to Operation Rahat by Indian armed forces where more than 4,000 Indian citizens along with other foreign nationals were evacuated from Yemen during the 2015 military intervention by Saudi Arabia and its allies.

He said, “Besides the Indians who were rescued from the war zones, there was a significant number of people who were stranded in other foreign countries as well. While few of them contacted us through social media platforms, huge number of people sought help from Indian embassy’s in foreign land.”

Mulay said he was surprised that no statistics had been maintained by the government of similar rescue missions until 2014. “We began maintaining a record of such rescue missions since 2014. There was no record kept by the previous governments about such operations. The current central government is keen on working with a larger motto of ‘Sarvajanhitay, Sarvajansukhaiy (benefit for all, welfare for all),’ he said.

According to Mulay, people who need help are the ones who have migrated through illegal channels. There are also people who face problems such as non-payment of salaries, denial of legitimate labour rights and benefits and non-renewal of residence permits.

“We come across many such problems, however, owing to the increasing importance of India globally; we have managed to bring back all such nationals who were stuck in foreign land. Today the pride of the Indians settled abroad has also gone up as Indian passports have become a security cover for them.”