20,000 British nationals desperate to go home

1900 out of them will return this week on charter flights

Nearly 1900 British nationals and their dependents are expected to be flown back home this week on the first London bound charter flight scheduled to take off from Goa on Wednesday and subsequent flights from Goa, Mumbai and Delhi.

These 1900 persons, who finally get to fly back to London this week, represent less than one tenth of the 20,000 British nationals who have expressed desire to go back to UK despite huge Covid-19 casualties in that country.

An estimated 35,000 British nationals are currently in India. Of these, 20,000 have told the British High Commission that they wish to return to the UK as soon as possible.

A British High Commission spokesperson said in a mail to FPJ: “Due to the large numbers of British travellers involved, the scale of this operation is huge.

The UK Government continues to work hard with our Indian counterparts in New Delhi and London to arrange a safe journey back for as many people as possible. At present, our main focus is on stranded British nationals and their families. This includes short-term British travellers and direct family members who normally live in the UK, but does not include British overseas residents. Places on these flights are limited and we are keen to help as many British nationals as possible.’’

In response to a question by the FPJ about whether these British nationals are on extended visas or whether their visas had expired, a British High Commission spokesperson said: “We have asked that British nationals make sure that their travel documents are up-to-date in preparation of the charter flights.”