Family Members Of Rescued Indians Thank Indian Embassies In Damascus, Beirut

The family members of the Indian nationals stranded in Lebanon and Syria thanked the Indian embassies for rescuing their relatives. According to officials from the Ministry of External Affairs, all Indian nationals have successfully crossed into Lebanon and will be repatriated to India via available commercial flights. The individuals who had been stranded expressed their heartfelt gratitude for being safely rescued. 

India evacuated 75 of its nationals from Syria two days after the rebel forces overthrew the authoritarian government. The evacuation, coordinated by the embassies of India in Damascus and Beirut, was put into effect following an assessment of the security situation. The evacuees included 44 'zaireen' from Jammu and Kashmir who were stranded at Saida Zainab.

A family member of Indian national stranded in Lebanon, Ghulam Mohammad said, "After two days, on the third day, when they were supposed to leave in the morning, they found out that the government had collapsed there. As a result, they got stuck there because of the unrest that had started, and the government had collapsed, so they were stuck there."

"They were also calling from there saying that they were stuck there. Outside, a lot of disturbance had occurred because firing was happening. The embassy person went to them and told them that they should get ready because they would take them out of there by bus and directly take them to Lebanon," Ghulam said.

"So, they left either at night or around 4 PM, according to the local time there, around 1:30 to 2:00 AM. They left Syria by bus and reached the Lebanon border. It took about 3-4 hours at the border for the paperwork that had to be done. Once that was completed, the check-in and everything was done. Then, the Indian embassy officials from Lebanon came to receive them at the border on 1st," he added.

According to officials from the Ministry of External Affairs, all Indian nationals have successfully crossed into Lebanon and will be repatriated to India via available commercial flights. The individuals who had been stranded expressed their heartfelt gratitude for being safely rescued.