Doha: Two batches of Qatar-based Indian students from war-hit Ukraine have finally landed in Hamad International Airport and New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport early morning yesterday after a harrowing experience that lasted more than 10 days.
Braving fierce shelling, these students from Ukraine’s Kharkiv university spent nearly a week in transit which brought them to Lviv, a border city in western Ukraine, in a crowded train that took 20 hours and from there to the Hungarian capital Budapest by bus with another five hours journey.
The group of students reached Budapest early Saturday but had to wait for another two days, before boarding flights to their respective destinations. Three female students took a Pegasus Airlines flight to Doha, while other students were evacuated by an AirAsia India repatriation flight, operated via Dubai that reached Delhi at 4.30am local time.
Fathima Sharbeen, a first-year medical student at the V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University in Kharkiv, who landed in Doha yesterday, told The Peninsula the harrowing experiences and the struggle to get home as the bombs fell all around.
“After a tiring 20-hour train journey from Kharkiv without food or even water we reached the Lviv border. To cross the border to Hungary was another hurdle as 300-plus students paid around 400,000 Ukrainian hryvnias (approximately QR50,000) to reach the nearest town in Hungary. When we started the journey, the siren was heard as it was time to start the curfew. Fortunately, we were able to proceed unharmed,” Fathima said.
After entering Hungary they took a train to Zahoni, where they were given a warm reception by the local people who served food and basic things. “Only after reaching Budapest we saw Indian embassy people,” she said.
The worried parents of Fathima Sharbeen, Hiba Ashraf, and Riya Mirsa Ashiq - all former students of Shantiniketan Indian School Qatar- decided to bring back their children directly from Budapest to Doha to ease their suffering.
Meanwhile, Dua Khadeeja, a first-year medical student at the V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University in Kharkiv, told The Peninsula from Delhi that two flights carrying over 350 students have landed in Delhi and the western Indian city of Mumbai yesterday.
"Finally relieved to be back home," she said over the phone. Dua, along with her classmate Alina Mammen, left for Kochi in the afternoon flight. After spending two weeks in Kerala, Dua is planning to join her parents in Qatar.
Students after reaching New Delhi Airport
Alina's mother Gigi Mary Mammen, who is working in Doha, told The Peninsula that she will be leaving for India today to rejoin with her daughter. A native from Tiruvalla in the southern Indian state of Kerala, she said Alina's father is already in India to receive her daughter.
Most of the students in the war-torn Ukraine had to leave their study materials and other belongings and travel with just their identification documents and a spare set of clothes.
India's evacuation mission, Operation Ganga, has so far brought back about 11,000 citizens with assistance from some of Ukraine's neighbouring countries, Poland, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia. The Ministry of External Affairs said as many as 7,000 are waiting to be flown home.
AirAsia India spokesperson said: “In light of the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, AirAsia India continues to work with the Ministry of External Affairs and the Government of India.”
