German Ambassador Walter J. Lindner today (09.04.) on the situation for those stranded German tourists and short-term travelers which are still in India:

“With 12th Government chartered repatriation flights from 7 Indian cities Germany has brought approx. 3200 stranded tourists and short-term travelers (Germans, European citizens and Nationals with permanent residency in GER) from India to Frankfurt. The challenges were huge – countrywide lock-down, sealed-off hotspots, no flights and hardly any public transport, closed hotels and shops, localization of individual travelers across a country bigger then Europe, necessary special permits, and the need to minimize exposure. Nevertheless, our ”Team India“ (Embassy and our 4 General Consulates) was always there for you – almost 24/7.

We could not reach everyone  but we did all we could to reach many of the group of people described, especially those who, as tourists, depended on hotels and restaurants in a special way, without being connected to family, friends or social environment in India.

The task now is to take stock and to find out how many stranded people of ”www.rueckholprogramm.de“s target group are still out there, where they are and what can we do to help them. With rising numbers of transmission-cases also in India and hence growing restriction of freedom of movement even for diplomatic cars, this endeavor is getting more and more complex and challenging. We are in mail-contact with those registered and are also closely coordinating with other EU countries (and Canada/US) to see how to best join efforts. The challenge is now to interlink and coordinate possible transport options of various nations, which sometimes materialize on shortest notice. Running these operations is truly all-hands-on-deck.  - At least in the media it is hinted that there will also be occasional commercial flights within and from India, in the near future. We are trying to verify this.

We’re on it! So please check your mails, this website and social media regularly!”