Trio of Canadians stuck in India after attending father’s funeral

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – A Canadian woman stuck in India is begging the government to help her find a way home.

Sandeep Sohal travelled to that country for her father’s funeral this month, but her flight back this week was cancelled after the government suspended incoming flights from India and Pakistan over COVID-19 variant concerns.

She was supposed to be on her way back home to Kitchener this week, but with her flight cancelled she doesn’t know when she’ll get home to see her husband and two young children.

“They are seven and eight and a half,” says Sohal. “They are with their father. He’s not going to work. He’s just looking after them.”

She doesn’t understand why people she’s still allowed to return home via a third country.

“If you are letting your citizens come through a third country, why you don’t take your citizens directly to Canada,” Sohal asks.

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The soonest she can return home with a U.S. stop is mid-May, but she’s even concerned about that given how quickly the rules changed last week.

“I didn’t come here for vacation or anything. I’m paying such a high price for all of this. I miss my kids, my husband, my home, my family. Everything is there. They should listen to us,” she says.

Sohal is there with her two brothers — one who lives in Abbotsford, the other in Ottawa — who are in a similar situation.

She says the bills are piling up, adding she’s also struggling to get a refund for the quarantine hotel she had originally booked for when she was to return to Canada. She’s also bracing for paying for multiple COVID-19 tests on the way back, both in the U.S. and Canada.

“My mental health is deteriorating … It’s a very tough time. I never thought this would happen,” she says.

Given how quickly the rules have previously changed, she feels uncomfortable trying to fly back to Canada via Europe and potentially getting stuck on that continent.