For over 200 Malayali students stranded in the landlocked country of Kyrgyzstan, the dream of making it big in the medical profession has been replaced by the nightmare of surviving the COVID-19 pandemic for some time now.
Restricted to quarantine in their hostel rooms in the Issyk-Kul region in the north-east of the country for over three months, they have been desperately trying to return home with little success up until now.
“There are over 30 students on our university campus and another 150-odd students in a medical college in our neighbourhood. Since our university allowed us to return home and appear for exams online, we have requested to the Union and State governments for our evacuation,” said R.S. Ajayaraj, a second-year student who hails from Pathanamthitta.
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They have already approached the Chief Minister’s office, Norka Roots, the Indian Embassy and Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan, but to no avail. Their morale was further drained after watching fellow students from other States being flown out from the capital city of Bishkek.
“The majority of the students stranded here are girls and they are anxious to get back to their home,” said Anatta Sobi, another medical student from Thiruvananthapuram.
Kyrgyzstan, a small country hardly the size of Kerala, is a preferred destination for aspiring medical students owing to the affordable medical education facilities and a rather favourable climate.
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Fortunately, students haven’t yet run out of food as the hostel mess continues to serve them. But the fact that they are otherwise confined to their hostel rooms and can interact only sporadically during their time at the mess has done little to assuage their anxiety.
“For a small country, it has already reported nearly 2,000 cases and that is hardly comforting,” said Anandhu, a resident of Kottarakkara.
Students have already approached local news channels back at home through a video they had shot. But all they have got is a communication purportedly sent by the Principal Secretary to the State government, to the Indian Embassy, and a joint secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs requesting to arrange for their evacuation.