“Fight or flight”: Indians go abroad in the middle of the COVID crisis Coronavirus pandemic News

New Delhi, India – For the past two years, Shaily Agrawal, a 25-year-old digital communications specialist based in New Delhi, has felt out of place.

He maintains that India has “completely changed” with “a stark contrast” between his beliefs now and “where the country is headed”.

Although a polarized political environment in recent years has thought of leaving Agrawal for India, the second devastating wave of coronavirus eventually tipped the scales and seriously explored its options abroad.

“Mentally, he’s been in a cage. It’s been hell. The inefficiency of the health system is evident and nothing feels reliable, ”Agrawal told Al Jazeera.

“A large part of me doesn’t want to run away, here I work for solutions. But again, who am I kidding? If I have the chance, I will leave without thinking twice ”.

Parv Kaur, an Indian researcher studying in France, said a two-month stay in his hometown of Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh) was enough to make him think of settling permanently in Paris, where he has a two-year temporary residence permit.

“I came to marry my brother at the end of March. Due to the pandemic, I stayed in my hometown. The situation there was dire. I was clear there that there is nowhere to go to live in India and live there forever, ”Kaur told Al Jazeera.

“Staying here (in France) is a much better option for me. The situation is much better than India due to the vaccine. I don’t even think there is a comparison economically and academically, ”he said.

Second destructive COVID wave

India was the second devastating wave of the pandemic in late March, killing thousands of people without access to medical oxygen, medicines and hospital beds.

Incinerators across the country were overwhelmed, corpses floating in rivers that were seen burning in parking lots or on sidewalks.

Stunning images of coronavirus patients breathing out of swampy hospitals due to lack of oxygen and beds were thought to make them migrate to countries with better living and health facilities.

Aghatal, from a middle-upper-class family in Chhattisgarh, says leaving seems to be the only option, as the situation in India is “beyond the rescue”, although he never faced the financial difficulty that many Indians are pushing to leave the country.

Shaily Agrawal says moving abroad seems like the only option now [Courtesy of Shaily Agrawal]

“Ultimately, when it comes to survival, it’s a state of struggle or flight,” Agrawal said, adding that he can leave his job and apply for a degree abroad to “get out”.

“There was a 10-day period every day when I woke up with a text from a member or friend of an extended family saying that a person in their family had passed away,” he said.

Significant increase in inquiries

Al Jazeera has spoken to more than just visa and immigration service providers, most of whom said there has been an “unprecedented” increase in the number of people asked about immigration procedures to other countries in the past two months.

Dharmesh Dhakan, Fly for Holidays, the director general of the visa agency in the western state of Maharashtra, said immigration consultations had increased by 40% during that period.

“There is a huge increase in the number of people who want to go abroad,” Jyoti Mayal, president of the Indian Association of Travel Agents, told Al Jazeera.

“People want to leave the country after the mismanagement of COVID and the impact it has had on the market. Many sectors are affected. They want to go somewhere to work and feel safe.”

Suppliers also said that unlike in the past, most of the inquiries were from lower-income people looking for work abroad, with many inquiries being made by middle-class and upper-middle-class Indians.

According to the Global Wealth Migration Review report, by 2020 nearly 5 billion people in India, which is 2 per cent of the people with a net worth, will leave the country in 2020.

Amjad CA, owner of Nature Holidays, a provider of visa and immigration services in Wayanad, Kerala, said people are “desperately” trying to go abroad, but visa and travel restrictions are leading to greater anxiety and confusion.

“We are receiving more than 100 inquiries every day,” Amjad told Al Jazeera. “People come to us to ask about job opportunities in Thailand, Malaysia, Qatar, the United States and Canada. They mainly ask which countries allow Indians to stay and work. ”

“A lot of people came to me to ask me about going to countries like Saudi Arabia. But right now there is no direct journey between India and Saudi Arabia, so they first went to Bahrain and then completed a quarantine to go to Saudi Arabia. They are willing to spend Rs 1,20,000 ($ 1,650) for the trip, ”he added.

Immigration consultations of Indian citizens living abroad who have family members in India are also increasing.

“Many Indians live abroad and want their families with them, especially considering the poor health system in the country. So there’s been a noticeable increase in such cases as well, ”Mayal said.

According to the United Nations report, India already has the largest diaspora in the world, with 18 million people living in India in other countries.

Sudipta Mallik, a 24-year-old computer science professional from Hooghly (West Bengal), opened his eyes to the second devastating wave of COVID as it “exposed the country’s infrastructure and health crisis”.

For him, like Agarwal, it is time to look for better opportunities abroad.

“I have a good job with a very good salary scale. But the COVID crisis has completely destroyed the country and I don’t see things improving for the next three to four years. So I think it’s appropriate to look for alternatives elsewhere, ”Mallik told Al Jazeera.

“I want to move right now. I am also applying for a PhD in foreign universities. I’ll think about going to academics or continuing in the corporate sector then, ”he said.

Studying abroad

Various foreign education advisers confirmed that Al Jazeera had spoken across India of an unusual increase in the number of people seeking opportunities to study abroad, as it provided an “easier path” to immigration.

“Many are ready to study again after leaving their jobs so they can move to another country,” Kishore Sabarangani, owner of NZ Connexions, an immigration consultancy based in Mumbai, told Al Jazeera.

“Consultations have increased tremendously, especially in places like New Zealand. It has a great place for people to live. But since last March, when there are travel restrictions imposed by New Zealand, people’s despair is deepening, ”he said.

Sameer Moothedath, Edroots, director of foreign education consultancy based in Kerala, believes that policies of retreat in some countries encourage many Indians to quit their jobs and apply for educational courses to settle abroad. Many Indian students are also deciding to pursue higher education abroad as an easier way to become immigrants.

The delay policy allows foreign students to stay in their host countries for a period of time looking for work after completing their studies.

When they get a job, it can lead to permanent residence and citizenship rights. Australia, Germany, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the US offer opportunities to retreat, making them popular destinations.

“There is a 40 per cent increase in demand for education. An important reason is the responsibility of governments in other countries that are missing here. These countries receive vaccination, good health care and unemployment pay,” Moothedath told Al Jazeera.

“The number of students applying in the UK has risen to 65 per cent due to the introduction of a withdrawal policy,” he added.

Afsal Avunhipurath, a lawyer based in the UK who deals with emigration cases, told Al Jazeera that there is a rise in the demand for Indian students.

“Even before the second wave, the number of people coming to the UK went up, but now the demand is much higher,” Avunhipurath told Al Jazeera.

Dr. Tarfarosh believes that more and more Indians will leave in the near future [Courtesy of Dr Shah Tarfarosh]

Dr. Shah Tarfarosh, a psychiatrist based in Oxford, UK, has given a trend to German-English migration scholar Ernest George Ravenstein to Ernest George Ravenstein’s “push-pull” theory. Unfavorable conditions in one place “encourage” people and “attract” good conditions in other places ”.

“India has the third highest coronavirus death rate in the world. These deaths were reported in a disturbing way in the media, increasing the sense of condemnation that was approaching, ”he told Al Jazeera.

“That’s why, psychologically, people started associating the homeland with death. Naturally, to prevent death, they are “pushing” their brains to move away from inappropriate areas to “countries with“ pulling elements ”or many favorable conditions”.

Tarfarosh believes that more and more Indians will leave in the near future.

“Psychology reveals that people’s behavior is very strong, knowing some of the people who migrate will force even more Indians,” he said.

“Also, from a pandemic perspective, despite the deaths of thousands of Western nations, they (Indians) can see a significant difference between the health services of the West and India,” he added.