KOCHI: Hundreds of Malayali students who managed to reach the Ukraine border at Shehyni-Medyka were stranded in the freezing cold for hours on Saturday at a checkpoint unable to cross over to Poland.
Students said that they reached the border by Friday morning but were told at the checkpoint that they can cross only by vehicles. “Shehyni is around 80km from Lviv. We had to walk for around 20km to reach here. We went to a shelter, but they told us only women are admitted. We have been staying out in the cold for nearly 20 hours now. Other shelters are 10km away from here,” said Mohammed Jiad, a Kalamassery native and veterinary science student at Lviv University in Ukraine.
Malayalee volunteers in Poland have been arranging accommodation facilities for the students. Chandramohan Nelloor, a malayali expatriate in Poland, said the Indian embassy in Poland was coordinating with the Malayali Association and Indo-Polish Chamber of Commerce to assist those who cross the border. He said people have been repeatedly calling him from the Ukraine side.
“Some have asthma issues, some are collapsing due to fatigue while some others just cry over the phone. Even Ukrainians are frustrated. They have been asked not to go out of the country but to get enlisted in the army. Their families want to come to Poland. Some students told us that when they see Indians, they push them aside,” said Nelloor.
Nelloor, who stays in Warsaw, said medical teams are on standby, and refreshments have also been arranged for students once they cross over. He said at around 7pm IST a handful of Indians crossed the border.
“They have slowly started letting Indians out. Women and children are being given priority. Hopefully, they will cross tonight. I don’t know how many but the number that we get now is that around 2,000 Indians are waiting on the other side,” said Nelloor.
He added that Malayali students on the other side have been saying that their queues have started to move.
“Earlier in the day we had talked to the Polish guards, it seems the problem was on the other side. It seems like lack of instructions from the Ukrainian government is the reason for them to close the borders,” said Nelloor. “Many students had to walk for nearly 5-6 hours to reach the border. And then they have been waiting for another 15 hours or so, in the freezing cold. It is likely that their health is deteriorating,” said Nelloor.
Athul KP, a Kannur native who is also at Shehyni-Medyka, sent a message late in the evening that the situation has been improving. “They have made a separate queue for Indians. It seems like we might be able to cross tonight itself,” he said.
