In wartime, two Adampur youths lodged in Ukrainian jail since Feb 6

Tribune News Service

Deepkamal Kaur

Jalandhar, March 2

As Russia has been intensifying its attack on Ukraine, two families from Adampur are worried as their sons cannot return back home like others. They are lodged in a Ukrainian jail since February 6 as both of them had overstayed after the expiry of their visa and were attempting to cross the Romanian border.

The two youth are Ramandeep and Rajat Sahota, both neighbours from Gazipur mohalla of Adampur here. Both had taken admission in a college in Odessa town and were pursuing a six-month course in language. They had also got a nine-month temporary residence certificate, which had already expired. With no chance of getting any work in Ukraine, they were desperately trying for Schengen visa which they failed to get. In a desperate attempt, they tried to crossover, but were reportedly held by the Ukrainian police and are in custody since then.

Harmesh Lal, Ramandeep’s father, who works as a tailor, said: “There had been nearly 2,500 Punjabi youth awaiting Schegen visa while staying in Ukraine. Very few of them could get a chance as the visa processing had been kept slow due to Covid. We had told our son that if he is not able to make it to another European country, he should return home. But he told that he would want to make one attempt as he felt that we had already spent Rs12 lakh on him since he moved there on February 5 last year. So, he had been crossing over along with six more boys, including our neighbour’s son, another boy from Amritsar and some Nepali youth when he got arrested.”

Sukhpal Sahota, Rajat’s father, who works at a post office, added, “The boys told us that they would be deported back in 10 days. Later, they told us it could take a few more days. For the next five-six days, they did not call us. We kept on trying their numbers, but there was no response. We were really worried. Last Saturday, they were allowed a two-minute call from the phones of cops there. They sent us a location of their jail, which is 50 km from Poland borders in a jungle. The boys pleaded that the Ukrainian cops were not leaving them, despite the war and that we should try for their deportation from the Indian side. On our part, we have been contacting various officials and on helpline numbers, but to no avail. While the children of all other families are being evacuated from Ukraine and are being sent back, our children are behind the lock-up, unable to return even in the wartime.”

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