Canada-based NRIs await nod to travel

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, April 13

Thousands of Canadian passport holders and permanent resident cardholders remained stranded in India, while several UK residents boarded a flight, sent by the UK authorities to specially evacuate the British citizens on the occasion of Baisakhi, from Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport on Monday.

The Canadian government had assured to arrange over six repatriation flights for its citizens, stipulating that people with PR cards wouldn’t be able to board the flights if an immediate family member, who was also a Canadian citizen, didn’t accompany him or her. Some people complained that they didn’t receive any such information from the Registration of Canadians Abroad despite being registered users.

Resultantly, around 4,000 to 5,000 people with PR cards were stranded at the airport.

Karan Kang, who hails from Fatehgarh Sahib, approached the Canadian PM’s office and High Commission of Canada on the behalf of several Canadian PR cardholders, but is yet to receive a favourable response.

“We consider ourselves as an integral part of Canada and like others, we are also desperate to return to our homes. Why are we being differentiated against? We have jobs, houses, family and friends over there. We urge the Canadian authorities to arrange flights for us at the earliest,” he said.

It is learnt that because of a number of logistical obstacles, service providers had difficulty in getting back to some of the Canadian citizens.

Gurpal Singh from Amritsar said he, along with his family, had come to India in December 2019. However, now he, along with his parents, was stranded in India for want of travel permission. He said they were ready to pay double the ticket fare, but the authorities told them they weren’t eligible to board the flight.

“My wife and two sons who are Canadian citizens had travelled back way before the lockdown was imposed. I wonder if my wife had been here with us, then would we all have been allowed to go?” he said.

He said the Canadian authorities had been picking up PR cardholders from other countries, but not from India. “I came to know that the PRs from Philippines were ferried just a couple of days ago. Why are we being subjected to discrimination,” he said.

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On the occasion of Baisakhi, a special British flight arrived at Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport to evacuate its stranded British citizens. Nakodar-based Raghuveer Singh and his wife, who were stranded in India for over a month, were happy to reunite with their family back in London. Similarly, Charandas Bains and his wife boarded the flight to go back to Glasgow. “Officials here are seldom in know of things and do not possess adequate knowledge to go about the paperwork, consuming a lot of our time. However, we are happy to have reached our homes.” they said. Bottom of Form