Repatriating from India during a Pandemic

With India in lockdown, my professional focus shifted to supporting Swiss citizens and residents in their challenges to return to Switzerland. Within four weeks, the Swiss Network in India – composed of the Swiss Embassy in Delhi, the Consulate Generals in Mumbai and Bangalore, the Swiss Business Hub India, and the two Honorary Consuls in Chennai and Kolkata – organized three repatriation flights. Collectively we flew more than 500 Swiss and other nationals from 20 other countries back to Switzerland. In total, the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, over the span of a month, repatriated over 7,000 Swiss nationals, by organizing 35 special flights; the largest ever Swiss repatriation operation.

The very first challenge was to find out how many Swiss citizens and residents were stranded in India; and who was interested in repatriating. The Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) “Travel Admin” app where travelers can register their contact details in the case of such an emergency provided a first indication. Most travelers, however, had not registered with the FDFA. Rather, they contacted the diplomatic representations in India directly to announce their interest to return home. Long, colorful Excel spreadsheets listing the names of returnee hopefuls constituted the core of the repatriation mission. Updated continuously until just a few hours before each repatriation flight departed.

The second challenge was to figure out the administrative requirements of the Indian federal and state authorities. Over a 5-week timeframe, Swiss representations submitted several hundred pages of lists and letters to the authorities in order to obtain the necessary road permits to transport Swiss citizens to the designated airports for the repatriation flights. Crucial to our success was the procuring of WhatsApp numbers for the key decision makers at the state level. With numerous WhatsApp messages to top officials - occasionally accompanied by diplomatically appropriate emoticons – we managed to transfer stranded tourists from all over South India to the airports from which the repatriation flights would depart.

First, to leave were 26 people from Bangalore who traveled 15 hours by car to Goa. Three weeks later, we transported nearly 50 people to Kerala, a 12-hour drive. We tried to anticipate and prepare for every eventuality gathering masks, disinfectant, food, water, snacks, additional toilet paper, diapers, and extra petrol for the car. My two daughters even shared their toys with the repatriating children.

Sebastien Hug is the CEO of swissnex India and the Consul General of the Swiss Consulate in Bangalore since November 2017. In his new role, Sebastien heads a dynamic and dedicated team with the mission to connect the dots between Switzerland and India in Education, Research and Innovation, and to ensure a strong presence of Switzerland in Southern India. From 2013 to 2017, he was the Scientific Advisor at the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation in charge of coordinating the global swissnex Network. Prior to that, he worked in the United States as a Project Leader for Higher Education and Partnerships at swissnex Boston (2011 – 2013) and in Canada as Science Counselor at the Embassy of Switzerland in Ottawa (2007 – 2011). He studied History, Political Economy and Public Management at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland), University of Ottawa (Canada) and the University of Paris-Sorbonne (France). He is married and a proud father of two daughters.