With the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown inching towards the 50th day, foreign tourists stranded in Kerala are a dejected lot.
Though they feel safe in Kerala, they are unhappy with their own authorities back home for not ensuring their well-being in a foreign soil during a crisis situation.
The US and Russian citizens are among those who feel dejected by their governments the most.
Now, stranded tourists have now come formed a WhatsApp group to share their problems and try to help each other.
The members of the group are from about 20 countries including the UK, France, US, Russia, Canada, Australia and Japan. Many of them stay in the coastal town of Varkala in Thiruvananthapuram.
“Everybody is clueless and confused. The younger ones are especially vulnerable – far from family and friends, running out of money etc. The Russians are particularly scared, especially the younger ones who came for short yoga courses or ayurvedic treatment,” Lucy Baldwin, a UK citizen and an admin of the WhatsApp group, told Onmanorama.
Baldwin, a photographer-artist who has been coming to Varkala for the past 15 years, has chosen to stay back there until commercial flights resume services.
“Luckily for us, Varkala police and local people have been wonderful. They are even giving free food. The biggest worry is that if the situation continues, many tourists will not be able to afford accommodation in hotels. The tourists in their twenties seem to be struggling the most, due to lack of funds,” she said.
Baldwin had been in touch with tourists from different countries, including those who are not in her WhatsApp group, and many of them have told her about the ill-treatment meted out to them by authorities in their own countries.
Recently, she appeared on BBC narrating the sad plight of her fellow tourists in India.
“The British embassy has been wonderful since the BBC interview. They have been calling us often and offering financial assistance, or any help we need. They have also managed to repatriate over 12,000 British nationals. But we are the lucky few,” she said, adding that Americans were getting “zero help”.
She said the tourists in Varkala had to recently find free accommodation for a US citizen, who ran out of money.
“As far as the US government's help is considered, they are pretty pathetic. It is just “check the Embassy page for updates”. They have had no flights leaving Kerala, only Mumbai and Delhi etc. They had one leaving from Chennai, but it would have been literally impossible to get there from here, and they were not offering up bus service, as so many other nations have done. Flights are also ridiculously expensive for a one-way ticket - at a minimum, you have to agree to pay $2000, and it could be more. Plus, once the flight arrives in the US, you are responsible for booking your onward journey to your home city. So, for students, or budget travellers, this is completely out of range,” an American tourist in Varkala said.
She also cited a message in which a Russian tourist, staying in Kochi, said the government was not offering any help.
The Russian woman said she was part of a Telegram group with about 500 people who have been trying to get some money from the government.
“But only 5-10 per cent of them received any money. Some people even do not have enough food. Also, they demand 400 euros to pay for evacuation flights, which is 2 times more usual price,” she said.
Baldwin revealed that a Spanish tourist staying in Varkala was told by a Spanish consul worker to work illegally (give Spanish classes) to get some money. “Obviously she will not do it since it is strictly against the rules of a tourist visa,” she said. However, she said she heard from other Spaniards that the Spanish consulate has been giving free accommodation and food in Thiruvananthapuram.
Baldwin said the Mozambique embassy didn't even answer calls from a tourist from the country stuck in Varkala.
She said the French tourists have been worried about lack of proper communication from their government.
“We are now left with a very unclear picture of what will happen. How can we randomly learn from an acquaintance about a flight organised by our government, despite the consulate having all our contact information? How come transparency and clarity are not of the utmost importance? What should we think, when after being stranded for so long, there seems to be so little consideration,” a French tourist said.
Baldwin said tourists staying in Varkala did not wish to be a burden on the Indian or Kerala Government. “We know the magnanimity of the people here and the difficulties they faced, especially after the tragic floods in Kerala last year. Even if help is offered we can only refuse to accept it. It is the duty of our own governments to care for us. If they fail to do so, we will help each other with accommodation and food, collectively," she said.
The tourism department in Kerala claimed 90 per cent of foreign tourists have been repatriated.
“A Russia-bound flight, supposed to send back 205 tourists, had to be cancelled at the last minute due to difficulties there. So those people are still in Kerala. The number of people from other countries staying in Kerala could be very less.
There are people who chose to stay back in Kerala because they felt it safer here,” P Bala Kiran, Director, Kerala Tourism, told Onmanorama. He could not give the exact number of tourists staying in the state.
