Desperate Indian expatriate students from Bahrain who are stranded in Ukraine have pleaded for assistance, expressing concern about dwindling food supplies and deteriorating health and hygiene conditions.
Their distraught parents, representing at least a dozen children, contacted the Indian Embassy in the kingdom yesterday to inquire about options available for bringing them home.
The first and second year medical students who spoke to the GDN in the midst of air raid sirens, explosions and the earth rattling beneath them were overcome with fear and anxiety.
“We’re scared – we can hear explosions and feel tremors,” Ramya Ravikumar, a first-year student at Karkhiv National Medical University (KNMU), told the GDN from a bunker in Karkhiv.
“We’ve been in this bunker for four days – it’s cold, dirty, dingy and wet. It’s depressing – someone, please rescue us from here,” the 18-year-old added.
Ramya, along with her college friend Hima Maria Stephen, both students at KNMU, and their friends from Bahrain Sana Fotedar and Anamika Rajesh, both students at VN Karazin University, are among the more than 200 Indian students awaiting rescue from war-torn Ukraine.
They were advised to move into the make-shift bunker in the basement of the Hotel Mir in Kharkiv, one metro stop away from their college hostel in Oleksiivska, which is close to Russia and 500km away from Ukrainian capital Kyiv, on the evening of February 24.
Stranded
“We didn’t go to school in the morning because there was a bombing, and we were rushed from our hostel to this hotel, which was 15 minutes away,” she explained.
“As of now, we’re connected to the Internet although we’re not sure how long we’ll have a connection or charge on our phones.
“We’re running out of food and the toilets are getting filthier by the day. We’re sleeping on the icy floor.”
Hima, also a Bahrain resident, explained that the move was arranged by the agents who facilitated their admissions in Ukraine. “This is a 12-storey building and we were housed on four floors from the sixth up,” the 19-year-old explained.
“There are students from VN Karazin University as well, but not all of them. Many are stranded elsewhere and we don’t know where they have been taken.
“We’ve moved to the hotel’s basement, which is two floors below. We’re hoping for help soon.”
Meanwhile, in an appeal to the Indian Embassy in Bahrain, the parents of the stranded students urged authorities to find a way to help them fly home to Bahrain.
“We are the parents of students stranded in Ukraine – we are 12 sets of parents now and are trying to reach as many as possible – we know there are more students in Ukraine,” said Ramya’s mother, Manju Ravikumar.
“There could also be students of other nationalities with parents in Bahrain and we would be happy for them to make contact with us too.
“We are urging our embassy’s support and seeking Bahrain government’s assistance as well to see if our children can be brought to Bahrain.
“We are really worried about them. They are surviving in bunkers and the situation is getting worse as each day passes.”
Hima’s father, Stephen Jacob, a long-term resident sales professional, said that he was aware of some Bahraini students as well who need to be evacuated.
“Our request is, if there is an evacuation for Bahrainis, we urge the Bahrain government to consider helping our children too – we are all residents,” he said.
Ukraine is a popular destination for medical students and camps have been set by the Indian government for their nationals, however they are situated around 1,200km to 1,500km from where the youngsters are located.
“It is not practical for children to reach there,” added Mr Jacob. “Instead, if they could be taken to the Russian border, which is an hour’s drive, they could be safely flown out, in my opinion.
“We seek the authorities’ support in rescuing our children.”
In a representation to the Indian Embassy the parents highlighted reports of Russian soldiers entering hostel bunkers and checking students’ bags, and throwing away their mobiles as part of a crackdown on information being relayed to the outside world.
Governments not caught up in the military action or involved in the tit-for-tat political fallout between the Kremlin and the West are urged to use all their diplomatic nous to solve the students dilemma, the parents say, before their children come to harm or are overcome by exhaustion.
Indian Ambassador Piyush Srivastava told the GDN that his office had met with a group of parents yesterday.
“We are aware and the Second Secretary spoke to them – we have advised them on the procedures that the Indian government is following,” said Mr Srivastava.
“We urge them not to panic and to rest assured that we are aware of their concerns and that the safety of citizens is a matter of priority to our government.
“As far the request on bringing these students (Bahrain residents) here, we are not sure. This may have to be done on a government level because evacuating Indians from Ukraine is the responsibility of the Indian government.”
Evacuation
India has set up camps on Ukraine’s borders touching Poland, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia for evacuation purposes. A third evacuation flight carrying 240 Indians arrived in Delhi from Budapest yesterday morning.
“Evacuating Indians from the warzone is India’s priority and we ask all who are stranded to register with the mission in Kyiv immediately,” said Mr Srivastava.
The exact number of Bahraini students or business people currently in Ukraine is not known and the Bahrain Foreign Ministry had not replied to the GDN before going to Press. However, on February 12 the Foreign Ministry of Bahrain called on citizens not to travel to Ukraine and those currently in Ukraine to leave it for their own safety, given recent developments and security instability.
Parents of Bahrain resident students are requested to contact 39278529/37726234/33662526 to help identify students stranded in Ukraine.
raji@gdn.com.bh
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