200 Indians, Stranded In South Korea, Appeal For Evacuation

New Delhi. The government has been evacuating Indians stranded in different countries by flights and ships as part of their Vande Bharat Mission. However, South Korea has been missing from their rescue operation list.

Around 200 Indians, including 64 mariners, are stuck in South Korea for the last two months.

Those helpless and distressed Indians have taken to social media platforms to share their plight and appeal for help.

“We kept our patience when the Indian aviation authorities released the first list of countries and South Korea was missing from it. But we are feeling restless now after South Korea did not appear in the second phase of Vande Bharat Mission as well. I have lost my job and it is very difficult to survive here. It would take just one flight to take us back to India,” one of the Indians told Asian Community News (ACN) Network over phone.

The Indian embassy in Seoul on Thursday tweeted on its official Twitter handle, “Ambassador @ambsripiriya met with the leadership of Indians in Korea and discussed plans to move stranded Indians from Korea to India and vice-versa.”

Ambassador Sripriya Ranganathan is going to hold a digital online meeting with stranded Indians on Saturday.

India launched phase 1 of Vande Bharat Mission on May 7, sending planes and ships mostly to middle-eastern countries to bring back stranded Indians.

On May 13, Civil Aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri announced another list of countries to get back Indians from.