New Delhi: The Covid-19 pandemic is not just a health crisis anymore. For many it is also turning out to be a possible financial crisis, with some facing the threat of losing their job.
Many among the over 1,000 Hong Kongers stuck in various parts of India due to a lockdown, termination of work contracts is adding to the anxiety of being away from their loved ones.
News18 spoke to a 35-years-old Hong Kong resident, who doesn’t wish to be named. She works at a French café in Hong Kong. She was visiting Punjab and expected to leave for Hong Kong but the sudden lockdown threw her plans in disarray.
Since she has been unable to fly out and return to work, her employer summarily terminated her job contract. She shared a copy of the email of her termination letter via WhatsApp. The email mentions that since her employer is not sure when she can return they have initiated a full and final for her. This woman, of Indian origin, is a permanent resident of Hong Kong as she was born and has lived all her life there.
For Dipika, Hong Kong is a fairly new home. She has been in Hong Kong since she got married there seven years ago. She is now a Hong Kong ID holder. She was travelling to Delhi with her three-year-old twins and a nanny when a sudden lockdown was announced.
Apart from the stress of being away from her husband during this pandemic, she is now worried about her job too. On a video message she told News 18, “I am a working mother and I have to go back and report to my employer and start getting back to office. If I cannot that puts my job at risk. She has appealed to the Hong Kong government to repatriate them like other countries are doing.
Lawyer Kavita Khosa, a permanent resident of Hong Kong, has been stuck in a hotspot in Pune. She has been able to manage work through video conferencing and other digital means but she has been all alone having to make do in a semi-functional apartment.
She has been constantly requesting the Hong Kong govt for repatriation but so far she hasn’t received any positive response. She says, “It’s a difficult situation. While we see a lot of other countries evacuating their citizens on a daily basis from Hong Kong, the Hong Kong govt has made no move whatsoever. We have drafted a petition and given it to the Hong Kong government, to the security bureau, to the Indian consulate in Hong Kong as well but there has been no cohesive or cogent response.”
A response to her email from the Indian Consulate told her that though the government of Hong Kong sends a proposal for a special flight to bring them back, they will process the proposal and seek necessary approvals from government of India. The mail mentions that there has been no such proposal yet by the Hong Kong government though. India has so far facilitated the movement of 35,000 foreign nationals from 48 countries.
Comments
0 comment