Indians abroad are still vulnerable to Covid-19 exposure

nNEWDELHI: The Union government on Wednesday informed Parliament that 255 Indian citizens were infected by the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in Iran, one of the countries worst hit by the infection. Although the government has evacuated hundreds of Indians from China, where the infection originated, and other countries such as Iran, official data shows that a large number of Indians abroad may still be vulnerable.

According to data compiled by the United Nations in 2019, India was the leading country of origin of international migrants. It estimated that 17.5 million Indian migrants lived across the globe.

Even as some of the Indians living outside the country would have voluntarily travelled back home or been evacuated by the government in view of the virus outbreak, coming to India has become difficult with multiple airlines cancelling international flights and the government imposing travel restrictions.

This leaves many Indians living in the worst-hit countries more vulnerable to the virus. According to MEA data, more than 15% NRIS (nearly 2 million people) were in 10 countries that have by far recorded the highest number of positive coronavirus cases, including China. Of them, the highest number of NRIS, at nearly 1.3 million, is living in the United States.

There were more than 300,000 NRIS in Italy, Iran, Spain and Germany — the four worst-hit countries outside China. Also, more than 86% NRIS lived in countries where at least 100 positive cases of coronavirus have been confirmed. Of them, Indians from Iran are the only ones who can come into the country right now, but they will be quarantined. The others cannot.

In some countries, mainly in the Arabian region, Indians make up a large number of migrants, UN data says. For instance, 43% of migrants in Bahrain, where 256 people have been found Covid-19 positive, were Indians.