E-Paper
Indian professionals in China ask EAM Jaishanker to help them reunite with their families
They have been separated from their partners and children for over 26 months because of the Chinese government’s strict rules for entering China
A group of Beijing-based Indian professionals have petitioned the Indian government to help them reunite with their families, including children who have not been able to return after leaving China because of the spread of Covid since early 2020.
The Indians, working in sectors like automobile, technology and media, have been separated from their partners and children for over 26 months because of the Chinese government’s strict -- often described as harsh -- rules for entering China.
Conversely, the petitioning Indians have also not been able to visit their home country because their residence visas and work permits – mandatory to stay and work in any country -- would automatically be cancelled if they leave China with almost no chance of being renewed.
In fact, many Indians living in other Chinese cities, like Shanghai, are facing a similarly hard choice: continue to stay and work in China at the cost of staying away from their families in India or even visiting them.
In the letter addressed to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, the Indian group described what they and their families are going through both psychologically as well as in aspects like finance.
The group wrote that they and their families are going through “severe mental anxiety; emotional trauma; financial losses; interruption in kids’ education; and many intangible damages, most significant of which is the irreparable loss of family time together”.
“We used to live in Beijing together with our families, who returned to India in February 2020 after the first outbreak of the pandemic in China. Ever since, they have not been able to return to China due to non-availability of visa and travel restrictions in place.”
“We are also unable to travel to India due to restrictions on entry into China. If we leave the country, we’ll have to give up our careers and employment, which is not a viable option for us.”
Earlier pleas to both the Chinese and Indian governments failed to produce any significant action.
Last week’s decision by China to allow selected Indian students to return to their Chinese universities, however, has offered a ray of hope.
A list of Indian students who will be allowed to return is currently being prepared by the Indian side.
In the letter to Jaishankar, the petitioning Indian group requested that a list of their separated family members be submitted along with that list.
“We humbly request you to use this opportunity to forward a list of our separated family members alongside the list of students to the Chinese authorities for their consideration on humanitarian grounds,” the plea said.
They gave the example of Indian diplomats as well as employees of the Beijing-based Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and their families, who, besides citizens of the US, Canada, many EU members, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, have been granted permission to enter China, and asked that the Chinese government should permit their families to return as well.
Pointing out that the “Right to Family Life and Family Unity” is recognised under many international conventions, including the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the group requested Jaishankar to raise the matter with China on humanitarian grounds.
It won’t be stretching the definition of humanitarian by much if, for example, one reads that one of the Indian petitioners hasn’t seen his second child even once because his wife and two children remain stranded in India since February 2020.
“I haven’t been able to meet my newborn baby even once. She will soon be two years old. I terribly miss my elder daughter too, who will be five this year. I feel so helpless about the current situation,” Anil Pande, an Indian media professional living in Beijing for over 12 years, who signed the petition, told PTI here.
Another Indian who signed the letter last met his daughter on February 1, 2020, at the Beijing airport; she was five then.
Recently, she sent her dad two sketches she made. One sketch had all three of them; he was missing in the other. That second sketch broke his heart.
