Indian students forced to come to Canada via third country
Travel ban in place as school year nears
With the start of the fall university semester fast approaching, international students from India are struggling to find routes to get into Canada after the government suspended all flights from the country over a surge in COVID-19 cases and the emergence of the Delta variant.
The flight ban, which the Liberals brought into effect on April 22, is just one of the many hurdles these students say they’re facing. Some booked into quarantine hotels — now no longer mandated — and are trying to get their money back. Others paid for flights that now can’t take off, and are hunting for refunds. Some are circumventing the ban by coming to Canada via a third country, which is still allowed. And others, unable to afford the significantly higher flight costs, say they are fighting to get refunds on their tuition from reluctant universities.
Earlier this month, the federal government extended the ban until Sept. 21, the day after the federal election. Some students say they believe, at this point, with case counts coming down in India, the federal policy is discriminatory.
Travelling via a third country is time consuming and stressful — potentially even dangerous — says one student who hopes to study in Alberta come September.
“People are having sleepless nights,” he told the National Post.
The student requested his name not be used, out of fear that his comments would be seen as criticism of the decision by the Liberals to ban flights from India, and would lead to the revocation of his visa.
“I have been to Canada and I like the country and I like the people,” he said.
India is among the largest origin nations for international students. Statistics Canada data from February 2020 — but comprising the 2017-18 academic year — shows that roughly 23 per cent of the 296,000 international students in Canada came from India. In the first six months of 2021 — in the midst of Canada’s third wave — the federal government issued more than 53,000 study permits to Indian nationals.
Over that same period, Statistics Canada data show that 28,595 Indian nationals entered Canada, down from 37,493 in that same period in 2020, and 179,227 in the first six months of 2019. The majority of Indian nationals entered Canada in 2021 before the ban came into effect, with between 5,000 and 8,000 entering per month for the first four months of the year, but only 602 in May and 1,915 in June.
Even with the ban on direct flights from India — with some exceptions such as military flights and medical transfers — Indian nationals have still been able to enter Canada, just not on a direct flight.
There are a number of videos on Youtube, catering to an Indian audience, that walk prospective students through the tangle of international travel rules to find an indirect route to Canada.
Guri Singh, who has produced such videos on his “Canadian Dost” Youtube channel, told the National Post there are several popular routes, including through Serbia, Albania and Ethiopia, among others.
The most popular route is through Mexico City. Akbar Travels, a major Indian travel agency, chartered two flights with a Spanish airline to fly from Delhi to Mexico City, where students would then stay and obtain the necessary COVID-19 testing before heading onwards to Canada, the Times of India reported recently.
Even if a student finds a potential alternative route, there are piles of rules about visas and testing that differ between locations that prospective travellers need to figure out before they can come to Canada.
“It’s too much complications for them,” said Singh. “People are financially drained, as well as mentally and emotionally drained.”
Some students who have approved-in-india COVID-19 vaccines are now realizing they won’t count as fully vaccinated in Canada, even if they are able to leapfrog their way around the world to find a route into Canada in time to get to class.
These flights are also expensive, compared to the usual price of a ticket to Canada, and with incomes considerably lower in India than Canada, plus tuition for international students being considerably higher than for citizens, it all adds up to a draining experience for students.
The ban was put in place in late April when case counts were exploding in India, infecting more than 30 million people and leaving more than 400,000 dead in a matter of months.
Now, argue some, case counts are down in India, but the border remains closed, while nationals from other countries are able to enter Canada directly, even if they have high case rates in their home regions.
Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said, when he announced the extension of the travel ban, that “protecting the health and safety of Canadians continues to be our top priority.”
The Delta variant of COVID-19, which first emerged in India, is now the dominant strain in Canada — it was, according to federal government information, first imported by travellers and is now spreading within the community. (The variant was first noted in Canada before the flight ban came into place.)
The student who spoke to the Post said he chose Canada as a place to study because he’s been here before, though, now, it’s looking like it will be a real challenge to properly attend classes and labs, even if he is able to stay up late — because of the time difference — and tune into lectures via Zoom.
He said he’s written to Alghabra and scores of other government officials about his concerns, but has yet to receive a proper response. The Post also asked the Liberal party and the federal government for comment on the extension of the ban, but neither responded before press time.
“They are just giving me the copy-paste reply,” the student said.
PEOPLE ARE HAVING SLEEPLESS NIGHTS.