PIL at SC seeking immediate relief to Indians stranded in GCC Countries

Taking into account grievances conveyed by expatriates and media reports of the hapless condition of Indian expatriates stranded in abroad, especially in the Gulf Co-operation Council(GCC) countries, due to the Covid-19 related lock down and suspension of air travel to India, PLC filed a PIL before the Hon’ble Supreme Court on 10th April, 2020 seeking a direction to repatriate the Indian citizens in distress.

Many Indian expatriates were going through challenging times and a large section of them were struggling, in some cases even for food, accommodation and medical care, having lost their jobs. Life in the labour camps was becoming difficult. According to some reports, these camps were like prisons and hundreds of workers infected with Covid-19 were living with others.

Under these circumstances, Pravasi Legal Cell approached the Hon’ble Supreme Court with a PIL for the speedy repatriation of the Indian emigrants. Numerous representations were submitted by PLC and other organizations to the concerned authorities earlier, but none could bring the desired relief. The expatriates were in immediate need of intervention from the Government of India.

PLC through this PIL, sought measures to rescue and bring the Indian expatriates back to the country. The petition also sought steps to ensure that the emigrant Indians with Covid symptoms had access to timely testing and medical facilities, as the absence of the same would result in high risk of transmission owing to the cramped conditions in which they reside.

The prayers in the petition also sought framing of schemes which will provide financial support to the returning jobless expatriates. The petition also asked for video conferencing/online arrangement to provide free medical consultation and counseling to the migrant labourers with doctors and experts in India.

Status of the Matter: On 13-04-2020, Hon’ble Supreme Court directed the Union Government to treat the writ petition as a representation and to take appropriate action. Major impact of this petition is that on 05/05/2020 the flagship repatriation project of the Government of India named Vande Bharat Mission took off, pursuant to the direction of the Supreme Court dated 10/04/2020 and eventually more than 1.5 million Indian emigrants could be repatriated to India. The mission is still on.