Stranded in UAE, 214 return home

SNS, DARJEELING/SILIGURI, 3 JULY 2020: A group effort from those living in the UAE and government officials back in India today saw 214 people, including an infant, from areas under the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), Sikkim, and Kolkata,land at the Bagdogra Airport in Siliguri in a chartered plane from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Officials said that all of them were stranded in the Gulf country since the lockdown.

While the event was billed as historic as sources said it was the first time that such a conunercial aircraft from the Middle East had landed at Bagdogra, Airport Director Subramani P said, "Yes. It is the first tim e that a rescue flight has landed during Covid- 19." He added that "213+1 infant" returned in the flight.

The GTA help desk said it provided all the support that the returnees needed at the airport and in heading for their homes from there.

"There were a lot of people involved in making this direct (Air Arabia) flight a reality from Sharjah to Bagdogra, which can be said to be the first one in history. It all started when I saw a Facebook post of the problem one person belonging to our hills had been facing in the UAE. The post said that he had no food as he was not paid for 4 to 5 months," one of the persons involved in the initiative, Steven Gurung, said in a Face-book video.

"We started out by making a group, with the idea of providing ration to such people, which we did. In two days' time, we came to know about 80 to 90 such people had been facing similar problems," said Mr Gurung, who hails from Darjeeling but is also based in the UAE. Following this, a core conmiittee was formed with some gathering information like passports of those stranded there, while some worked in communication with the authorities. According to Mr Gurung, many helped with sponsorship and also paying for nine of them, who could not afford to pay for their air tickets.

The core group also had other people based in the UAE like Sonam Topden Bhutia from Mirik, Aaron Pradhan from Kalimpong and Praveen Tamang from Siliguri.

"A majority of the people who came back are from the GTA area. We have arranged for all the necessary things here, including transport. According to government protocols, those coming in from foreign countries have to stay in paid quarantine. We have arranged for two hotels for them, " GTA Chairman Anit Thapa, who welcomed the returnees at Bagdogra, said. In a press release, he also said that they will be kept in institutional quarantine for seven days and home quarantine for another seven days. He also said that their throat swab samples will be collected for Covid tests at Simulbari near Siliguri.

(Courtesy, source- The Statesman- https://epaper.thestatesman.com/2736873/Siliguri-The-Statesman/04-TH-JULY-2020#page/2/2)