Lok Sabha Question No. 4894 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-04-01
Subject: Evacuation Norms for Indians
Ministry: EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
Asked by: Dibyendu Adhikari

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.4894 TO BE ANSWERED ON 01.04.2022

## EVACUATION NORMS FOR INDIANS

## 4894.   SHRI DIBYENDU ADHIKARI:

## Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has any details regarding the number of Indians who are presently staying abroad;
- (b) whether the Government is taking any measures to ensure the safety of Indian nationals who are holding Indian passport;
- (c) if   so,   the   details   of   Indian   passport   holders   except   PIO,   who are staying abroad for purpose of job and education, country- wise;
- (d) whether any bilateral evacuation norms and protocol with foreign countries during any emergency therein are in existence; and
- (e) if   so,   the   details   of   recent   evacuation   of   stranded   Indians   from Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Russia?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS [SHRI V. MURALEEDHARAN]

(a) & (c) The estimated total number of Indians (NRIs) living in foreign countries as per the latest available data with the Ministry is 1.345 crore. The country wise details of Indian passport holders who are abroad as per details available from our Missions is at Annexure-I .

(b) Several steps have been taken by the Government of India to ensure safety   and   security   of   Indian   passport   holders   abroad. Any   issue pertaining to Indians abroad is dealt by the Mission/Posts on priority basis. Missions/Posts conduct open houses for NRIs to discuss issues related to their safety and security. These issues are further highlighted and taken up with the host government wherever necessary for action on priority basis.  Besides, the Ministry organizes awareness workshops on safe and legal migration for the welfare of our workers and to generate awareness among them.  A Pre-Departure Orientation Training (PDOT) is imparted to the workers before they migrate to foreign countries.  Also a PDOT manual for prospective emigrants has been prepared, including its translation in regional languages.  Online PDOT has also been launched to reach out to

women   and   prospective   migrants   from   remote   areas. The   Pravasi Bharatiya Bima Yojana (PBBY) provides insurance for workers.  Some other initiatives like MADAD Portal, Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF), Emigrate Portal, Pravasi Bharatiya Sahayta Kendra (PBSK), etc. help NRIs to get assistance and address their grievances and ensure their safety and security.  Grievances are also registered and responded through various channels like calls, walk-in, e-mails, T witter, Whatsapp, 24 x 7 Helpline and other Social Media accounts of Missions/Posts. Furthermore, to facilitate the   return   of   Indian   nationals   stranded   in   various   countries   due   to restriction imposed in the wake of pandemic, the Vande Bharat Mission was   undertaken.   Recently,   under   Operation   Ganga,   the   Government evacuated   Indian   nationals,   largely   students   stranded   in   the   Ukraine conflict Zone.  During such crises, our Missions/Posts abroad proactively help   distressed/stranded   Indian   nationals   in   terms   of   providing   food, shelter, medicine and return back to India.

(d) & (e)   Each evacuation mission is undertaken taking into account the local security situation.  Government engages with the host government as well as the neighboring countries to ensure the most efficient and secure way of evacuating our nationals from conflict zones. Around 22,500 Indian Nationals, mostly students, were evacuated from Ukraine under Operation Ganga.

***

Annexure-I As per information available with the Ministry, the estimated number of Overseas Indians are as under:

|   Sl.No | Country                   |   Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) |
|---------|---------------------------|-------------------------------|
|       1 | Afghanistan               |                          3087 |
|       2 | Albania                   |                            50 |
|       3 | Algeria                   |                          5700 |
|       4 | Andorra                   |                            50 |
|       5 | Angola                    |                          2500 |
|       6 | Anguilla                  |                            30 |
|       7 | Ankara                    |                          1278 |
|       8 | Antigua & Barbuda         |                           220 |
|       9 | Argentina                 |                           800 |
|      10 | Armenia                   |                          1477 |
|      11 | Aruba                     |                           600 |
|      12 | Australia                 |                        241000 |
|      13 | Austria and Montenegro    |                         13000 |
|      14 | Azerbaijan                |                           953 |
|      15 | Bahamas                   |                           250 |
|      16 | Bahrain                   |                        323292 |
|      17 | Bangladesh                |                         10385 |
|      18 | Barbados                  |                           600 |
|      19 | Belarus                   |                           854 |
|      20 | Belgium                   |                         12386 |
|      21 | Belize                    |                           300 |
|      22 | Benin                     |                          1563 |
|      23 | Bhutan                    |                         60000 |
|      24 | Bolivia                   |                            50 |
|      25 | Bonaire & Smaller Islands |                            54 |
|      26 | Bosnia & Herzegovina      |                            20 |
|      27 | Botswana                  |                          9000 |
|      28 | Brazil                    |                          4729 |
|      29 | British Virgin Islands    |                            50 |
|      30 | Brunei Darussalam         |                         11500 |
|      31 | Bulgaria                  |                           250 |
|      32 | Burkina Faso              |                           200 |
|      33 | Burundi                   |                           465 |
|      34 | Cambodia                  |                          1500 |
|      35 | Cameroon                  |                           800 |
|      36 | Canada                    |                        178410 |
|      37 | Cape Verde Islands        |                            20 |
|      38 | Cayman Islands            |                          1500 |

|   39 | Central African Republic                    | 100      |
|------|---------------------------------------------|----------|
|   40 | Chad                                        | 120      |
|   41 | Chile                                       | 1530     |
|   42 | China                                       | 55500    |
|   43 | China (Hong Kong)                           | 31569    |
|   44 | China (Rep. Of Taiwan)                      | 3068     |
|   45 | Colombia                                    | 450      |
|   46 | Comoros                                     | 30       |
|   47 | Congo (Dem. Rep. of)                        | 10000    |
|   48 | Congo (Rep. Of )                            | 590      |
|   49 | Cook Island                                 | 5        |
|   50 | Costa Rica                                  | 1011     |
|   51 | Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast)                 | 1500     |
|   52 | Croatia                                     | 82       |
|   53 | Cuba                                        | 600      |
|   54 | Curacao                                     | 700      |
|   55 | Cyprus                                      | 7254     |
|   56 | Czech Republic                              | 4590     |
|   57 | Denmark                                     | 12685    |
|   58 | Djibouti                                    | 500      |
|   59 | Dominica (Commonwealth of)                  | 15       |
|   60 | Dominica Republic                           | 100      |
|   61 | East Timor                                  | 100      |
|   62 | Ecuador                                     | 300      |
|   63 | Egypt                                       | 3950     |
|   64 | El Salvador                                 | 14       |
|   65 | Equatorial Guinea                           | 250      |
|   66 | Eritrea                                     | 300      |
|   67 | Estonia                                     | 741      |
|   68 | Ethiopia                                    | 5500     |
|   69 | Fiji                                        | 1400     |
|   70 | Finland                                     | 5652     |
|   71 | France                                      | 19000    |
|   72 | France (Reunion Island)                     | 300      |
|   73 | France (Guadeloupe, Martinique, St. Martin) | 420      |
|   74 | Gabon                                       | 1100     |
|   75 | Gambia                                      | 700      |
|   76 | Georgia                                     | 3192     |
|   77 | Germany                                     | 1,42,585 |
|   78 | Ghana                                       | 10000    |
|   79 | Greece                                      | 12300    |

|   80 | Grenada                          | 200     |
|------|----------------------------------|---------|
|   81 | Guatemala                        | 50      |
|   82 | Guinea (Republic of)             | 700     |
|   83 | Guinea Bissau                    | 100     |
|   84 | Guyana                           | 600     |
|   85 | Haiti                            | 580     |
|   86 | Holy See                         | NA      |
|   87 | Honduras                         | 15      |
|   88 | Hungary                          | 1026    |
|   89 | Iceland                          | 257     |
|   90 | Indonesia                        | 8500    |
|   91 | Iran                             | 4000    |
|   92 | Iraq                             | 18000   |
|   93 | Ireland                          | 15000   |
|   94 | Israel                           | 12467   |
|   95 | Italy                            | 157695  |
|   96 | Jamaica                          | 5000    |
|   97 | Japan                            | 37933   |
|   98 | Jordan                           | 20569   |
|   99 | Kazakhstan                       | 6785    |
|  100 | Kenya                            | 20000   |
|  101 | Kiribati                         | 0       |
|  102 | Korea (DPR)                      | 15      |
|  103 | Korea (Republic of)              | 13236   |
|  104 | Kuwait                           | 1028274 |
|  105 | Kyrgyzstan                       | 11200   |
|  106 | Laos, PDR                        | 450     |
|  107 | Latvia                           | 760     |
|  108 | Lebanon                          | 8500    |
|  109 | Lesotho (Kingdom of )            | 1500    |
|  110 | Liberia                          | 1500    |
|  111 | Libya                            | 1500    |
|  112 | Liechtenstein (Principality of ) | 5       |
|  113 | Lithuania                        | 1000    |
|  114 | Luxembourg                       | 2331    |
|  115 | Macedonia                        | 7       |
|  116 | Madagascar                       | 2500    |
|  117 | Malaysia                         | 227950  |
|  118 | Malawi                           | 2500    |
|  119 | Maldives                         | 25000   |
|  120 | Mali                             | 436     |
|  121 | Malta                            | 4850    |
|  122 | Marshall Islands (Republic of)   | 14      |
|  123 | Mauritania                       | 150     |

|   124 | Mauritius                       |   10500 |
|-------|---------------------------------|---------|
|   125 | Mexico                          |    6000 |
|   126 | Micronesia                      |      35 |
|   127 | Moldova                         |     600 |
|   128 | Monaco                          |      30 |
|   129 | Mongolia                        |     150 |
|   130 | Montserrat                      |      40 |
|   131 | Morocco                         |     250 |
|   132 | Mozambique                      |    2300 |
|   133 | Myanmar                         |    9207 |
|   134 | Namibia                         |     200 |
|   135 | Nauru                           |      20 |
|   136 | Nepal                           |  600000 |
|   137 | Netherlands                     |   40000 |
|   138 | Netherlands Antilles            |    2581 |
|   139 | New Zealand                     |   80000 |
|   140 | Nicaragua                       |      39 |
|   141 | Niger                           |     150 |
|   142 | Nigeria                         |   40000 |
|   143 | Niue                            |       9 |
|   144 | Norway                          |    8732 |
|   145 | Oman                            |  779351 |
|   146 | Pakistan                        |       0 |
|   147 | Palau (Republic of)             |      27 |
|   148 | Palestine (PLO)                 |      20 |
|   149 | Panama                          |    4000 |
|   150 | Papua New Guinea                |    2900 |
|   151 | Paraguay                        |     200 |
|   152 | Peru                            |     399 |
|   153 | Philippines                     |  105000 |
|   154 | Poland                          |   10162 |
|   155 | Portugal                        |   11393 |
|   156 | Qatar                           |  745775 |
|   157 | Romania                         |    1741 |
|   158 | Russian Federation              |   21354 |
|   159 | Rwanda                          |    2940 |
|   160 | Samoa                           |      21 |
|   161 | San Marino                      |       0 |
|   162 | Sao Tome and Principe (Rep. of) |      50 |
|   163 | Saudi Arabia (Kingdom of)       | 2592166 |
|   164 | Senegal                         |     500 |
|   165 | Serbia                          |     303 |
|   166 | Seychelles                      |    5200 |
|   167 | Sierra Leone                    |     900 |

| 168   | Singapore                    | 350000   |
|-------|------------------------------|----------|
| 169   | Slovak Republic              | 500      |
| 170   | Slovenia                     | 126      |
| 171   | Solomon Islands              | 50       |
| 172   | Somalia                      | 100      |
| 173   | South Africa                 | 60000    |
| 174   | Spain                        | 49084    |
| 175   | Sri Lanka                    | 14000    |
| 176   | St. Kitts and Nevis          | 500      |
| 177   | St. Lucia                    | 550      |
| 178   | St. Martin                   | 2171     |
| 179   | St. Vincent & the Grenadines | 50       |
| 180   | Sudan                        | 1500     |
| 181   | South Sudan                  | 1100     |
| 182   | Suriname                     | 205      |
| 183   | Swaziland                    | 1000     |
| 184   | Sweden                       | 15349    |
| 185   | Switzerland                  | 17403    |
| 186   | Syria                        | 94       |
| 187   | Tajikistan                   | 1500     |
| 188   | Tanzania                     | 10000    |
| 189   | Thailand                     | 20000    |
| 190   | Togo                         | 500      |
| 191   | Tonga                        | 6        |
| 192   | Trinidad & Tobago            | 1800     |
| 193   | Tunisia                      | 121      |
| 194   | Turkey                       | 1609     |
| 195   | Turkmenistan                 | 240      |
| 196   | Turks & Caicos Islands       | 200      |
| 197   | Tuvalu                       | 0        |
| 198   | Uganda                       | 23500    |
| 199   | Ukraine*                     | -        |
| 200   | UAE                          | 3419875  |
| 201   | UK                           | 351000   |
| 202   | USA                          | 1280000  |
| 203   | Uruguay                      | 570      |
| 204   | Uzbekistan                   | 350      |
| 205   | Vanuatu                      | 10       |
| 206   | Venezuela                    | 50       |
| 207   | Vietnam                      | 5000     |
| 208   | Yemen                        | 500      |
| 209   | Zambia                       | 6000     |
| 210   | Zimbabwe                     | 500      |
|       | Total                        | 13451654 |

* Around 22,500 Indian nationals have been evacuated from Ukraine.

***