Foreign Office urged to arrange flights home for thousands of British nationals stranded in Punjab

The Foreign Office has been criticised for failing to offer repatriation flights to thousands of British nationals stranded in Punjab.

The Government has organised flights home for British citizens currently trapped in Goa, Mumbai, and Delhi due to the coronavirus pandemic.

However, due to India’s Covid-19 lockdown, thousands of trapped British citizens in Punjab, a state with a majority Sikh population, cannot cross state borders to catch these flights.

British citizens stranded abroad and several Labour MPs have called on the Government to arrange flights from Amritsar, a city in Punjab.

Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, Labour MP for Slough, told the Standard he had been inundated with messages from “a lot of very angry people [in Punjab] who feel they have been discriminated against”.

“The UK Government had decided originally that its policy would be to just leave it to the market, unless absolutely necessary,” he said.

“That’s not the approach other governments took, which acted quickly to repatriate their stranded citizens.

“I’m astounded as to why not even one of the original seven flights arranged by the Government is from Amritsar.”

Mr Dhesi said he and others would ask the Government “why rapid action was not taken”.

Pardeep Nijjar, 30, a civil servant from Nottingham, is stranded in Punjab with his parents who are both running out of necessary medication.

The family booked several flights back to the UK which have all been cancelled.

Mr Nijjar’s mother, Baldip Kaur, 63, a receptionist and former nurse, has Parkinson’s disease, and has only ten days' worth of medication left. “After this she won’t be able to function as normal,” Mr Nijjar said.

“She will have uncontrollable body spasms, be unable to control her speech, and be in pain all over her body.

“We’ve followed all guidance so far in trying to get medication here, but nothing has worked.”

Mr Nijjar said his father Ajaib Singh, 65, a factory worker, is low on medication for his heart condition.

“The stress of being stuck here and knowing the meds will run out, and waiting every day for news of a rescue flight is torture,” he added.

Bally Kaur, 44, said her parents, both in their seventies, were trapped in Punjab, and had already spent nearly £2,000 on flights which have been cancelled.

“The Foreign Office has not advertised any repatriation flights for Amritsar,” she said.

“That’s a massive oversight. Thousands of people [are] in the same position in Punjab. Movement is restricted in Punjab, police are beating anyone seen outside with bamboo sticks.

“I just want my parents home.”

Ms Kaur said the flights she had seen from Delhi, Mumbai and Goa cost between £500 to £600.

"These prices are extortionate given that my parents have no idea if they will ever get a refund [from their previous bookings]," she said.

"This is putting pensioners under massive financial difficulty."

Mani Sekhon, 42, from the West Midlands, said his 66-year-old father Mohan is stranded in Manawalia, a village in Punjab.

“He is diabetic, and my family’s concern is him being able to get medication,” Mr Sekhon said. “At the moment he’s okay, but running really low.

“There are another ten Brits also stuck [in Manawalia].

“As there is currently state lockdown they are not able to travel to Delhi.”

Mr Sekhon said he was “really angry” that, unlike other countries, the UK had not organised flights for their citizens out of Punjab.

“The information from [the British High Commission in India] is unclear,” he said. “It is frustrating.”

“My father has been out there two weeks longer than he should have been.”

Labour MP for Warley John Spellar told the Standard it was “quite scandalous” that the UK was so far behind other countries such as Germany and Canada in its repatriation efforts.

“There is a large number of British people, including many pensioners, in Punjab – especially the Sikh community who are visiting family. They need to get home to their families.

“Many have taken their medication with them, but now that’s running out.

“The government must now show some real urgency," he added.

“It’s particularly galling for people in Punjab and in Pakistan that so little has been done.

“It’s not as though we are asking for the impossible.”

Emily Thornberry, Shadow Secretary for International Trade, tweeted on Sunday that the situation in Punjab showed there was "more to be done" by the Government.

"We know this is a difficult time for many British travellers in India, and we are working around the clock to bring them home," a spokesperson for the Foreign Office said.

“We have already organised flights from Goa, Mumbai and Delhi back to the UK and are doing everything we can to overcome the significant challenges to get more flights in to India.”

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