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Of 403 Indian students who have died since 2018 in foreign countries, 91 were in Canada — the highest. This is followed by nations like the United Kingdom (UK), Russia, the United States (US), Australia, Ukraine, and Germany, among others, according to data shared by union external affairs minister S Jaishankar in the Lok Sabha on Friday.
Based on this, while 91 students died in Canada, 48 were reported dead in the UK, 40 in Russia, 36 in the US, 35 in Australia, 21 in Ukraine, and 20 in Germany. The deaths have been reported across 34 countries including Cyprus, Italy, the Philippines, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Qatar, and Taiwan.
Notably, the same data was given in Parliament last December as well and seemingly the recent student deaths reported from foreign countries in January have not been included in it yet.
The number of Indian-origin students dying abroad has been alarming with three such incidents reported just over a week last month from the US. An Indian-American student, Shreyas Reddy Benigeri, from the Carl H Lindner College of Business in Cincinnati, Ohio, was reported dead in a statement released by the Consulate General of India in New York on Thursday. The exact reasons for the death have not been disclosed.
Reddy’s death came close on the heels of two other such incidents involving Indian-origin students Vivek Saini and Neel Acharya. Saini was assaulted mercilessly with a hammer by a homeless drug addict, whom he had recently helped, in Lithonia City, Georgia. His body reached his hometown in Haryana on January 25.
Acharya, a computer science student pursuing a double major at Purdue University, Indiana, was confirmed dead by the university on January 30. He hailed from Pune. The reason for his death is still unknown.
News18 had on October 12 last year reported that the mortal remains of five to eight Indian students on average from Canada are sent over every month. The high number of deaths of Indian youth in Canada over the past few years was flagged by funeral homes in Ontario’s Greater Toronto Area against the backdrop of the diplomatic row between the two countries last year.
Some of these are suicides while others are accidents, killings, accidental drug overdose, heart attacks, and drowning, etc. Even though the toll remains high, the Canadian government has not taken any concrete steps to prevent such untimely deaths or work for their mental health, those handling the bodies had told News18.
“Wherever Indian students are enrolled in universities abroad; the missions keep in regular touch with them. Heads of Mission/Post and senior officials visit universities and educational institutions for regular interactions with Indian students and student associations. Indian missions abroad respond to any issues faced by Indian students on priority basis,” Jaishankar said in a written response.
He further said that grievances are responded to through various channels like calls, walk-ins, e-mails, social media, 24×7 Helplines, Open Houses, and the Madad portal.
As per information available with the ministry, 23,906 Indian nationals, including students, have been evacuated from conflict zones during the last three years.
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