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Russia-Ukraine crisis: Some Indian students pay over Dh1,800 to flee conflict zones

Many complain they are being extorted by agents offering 'safe passage' buses to the border

Published: Sat 5 Mar 2022, 7:48 AM

Updated: Sat 5 Mar 2022, 10:08 PM

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Some Indian students caught in Ukraine are paying about $500 (over Dh1,800) to agents for 'safe passage' to leave Pisochyn and reach the borders, according to media reports.

"All I can say is that my son is being rescued," an angry parent in India told the Economic Times. "I don't mind paying the money, but I can't keep waiting endlessly for the government rescue to happen."

Coordinators and agents are arranging for evacuation buses to take students to border towns, but many complain of extorted funds.

"I transferred $200 for my relative," said a person identified only as Jagdeep. "She was told that she needed to pay the amount to board a bus from Pisochyn on Thursday. However, in the bus, another person said she should pay $300. They have not collected the fare and she was still travelling."

The students are dropped off near the Polish or Hungarian borders in western Ukraine.

Shabnam Begum, a student stranded in Ukraine, said lack of money has delayed their journey from Pisochyn to Lviv. Families in India were transferring money, but the ATMs are not functioning and operators only want cash, she said.

"Around 100 students have left for Lviv in a bus," she said. "Online transactions are not functioning properly. Those running bus services are not accepting electronic money transfers from our parents. We have run out of cash after staying so long in Kharkiv and could not pay for the bus leaving for Lviv. I am scared by the continuous shelling outside, though we have been told that this is a safe place."

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According to estimates, about 1,000 Indian students are trapped in Pisochyn, a village in a relatively safe area near Kharkiv. About 700 are in Sumy and another 300 in Kharkiv.



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