THRISSUR: A few parents on Saturday alleged that their children stuck in Ukraine have not received enough assistance from the Indian embassy there.
Jaimon Joseph and Joffy Joseph said their children Bijo Joseph and Catherine Joffy studying veterinary science at Lviv went to Rava Ruska, the border crossing to Poland, following the initial advisories from the embassy. They went by a car and then had to walk up to 12km to reach the border crossing. It was freezing cold with the temperature dipping to minus two degree Celsius at night. The embassy then asked them to reach Shehyni-Medyka border point 96km away from Rava Ruska.
There are about 20 students with them, while another 100-odd students are stuck in a school near Rava Ruska. “We walked around 12km to get a taxi to proceed to Shehyni-Medyka. But the taxi driver dropped us almost 50km away from the border. We walked another 32km to get closer to the border. We have been waiting there in a queue since Friday afternoon,’’ one of the students said in a message. On Saturday evening Joffi and Jaimon were told to reach the Hungary border hundreds of kilometres away.
The parents said Ukraine police were blocking only Indians from crossing the border to Poland. “They are not allowing us to use our phones or to take any pictures or videos. The police are seizing the phones, if they find us using the phones. Thousands of Indians are stranded at the border point,” one of the students said in a voice message.
The students said they have not been receiving any help from embassy officials for moving from one border point to another. “We were trying to get a lift in other vehicles, but those efforts turned out to be futile. So, we had to walk long distances, in extremely risky situations and difficult weather. Now our group of students are scattered and are in different places,’’ the student said in the message.
The parents said the children were running short of food and water, and appealed to the Indian authorities to provide assistance to them urgently. The children are getting conflicting instructions from the embassy and no help, they said.
