Canada-India travel ban extended till Sep 2021. Let's Organize!

[imisstraveling]

As you might have already seen that Canada India travel ban has been extended till Sep 2021 which doesn't make any sense at all when US, UK and several other nations are registering more cases everyday. Many political pundits are saying that it's nothing but a political stunt for upcoming elections. The least they could do is to allow fully vaccinated students and accept Indian RTPCR test.
As a fellow student, I also don't want to spend lakhs of money for my tickets, miss my fellowship after quitting my job in India. I think that we should start tweeting/tagging ( WITHOUT BEING ABUSIVE) Canadian/Indian ministers to bring this discriminatory move in light. We can tweet strategically and make our voices heard. We can tag Canadian Media/ Indian Media, NGOs working for immigration, Canadian opposition leaders and other stakeholders in this. What do you say guys? @Alpha_Wolf @Shadow_Man and others of course.

Share your ideas guys. we can prepare a tweet templates, list of above mentioned folks with their twitter handle and hashtags.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1424840417456136200

 

[imisstraveling]

I also believe that if at all third wave comes to India, they will even ban travel from third country, so better create pressure on them to accept Indian RTPCR tests and let fully vaccinated people enter canada for their classes without making them suffer.

 

[rogerdude1]

No it's not for the third wave. Political reasons only. Else why would US/UK/Germany/UAE/others allow flights?

 

[Canada.dreamer]

As you might have already seen that Canada India travel ban has been extended till Sep 2021 which doesn't make any sense at all when US, UK and several other nations are registering more cases everyday. Many political pundits are saying that it's nothing but a political stunt for upcoming elections. The least they could do is to allow fully vaccinated students and accept Indian RTPCR test.
As a fellow student, I also don't want to spend lakhs of money for my tickets, miss my fellowship after quitting my job in India. I think that we should start tweeting/tagging ( WITHOUT BEING ABUSIVE) Canadian/Indian ministers to bring this discriminatory move in light. We can tweet strategically and make our voices heard. We can tag Canadian Media/ Indian Media, NGOs working for immigration, Canadian opposition leaders and other stakeholders in this. What do you say guys? @Alpha_Wolf @Shadow_Man and others of course.

Share your ideas guys. we can prepare a tweet templates, list of above mentioned folks with their twitter handle and hashtags.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1424840417456136200

Yes, let's please do this! Apart from Canadian and Indian ministers, organisations and media - we could also collectively request [EDIT: countries our ambassadors/CGs in countries] such as the UAE, Germany and Switzerland to extend their existing transit testing facilities to Indian passengers to Canada.

 

[ragiii]

Yes, let's please do this! Apart from Canadian and Indian ministers, organisations and media - we could also collectively request countries such as the UAE, Germany and Switzerland to extend their existing transit testing facilities to Indian passengers to Canada.

They wouldn't. I mean, why would they? These nations have no take in the problem so expecting them to do this is illogical at best. Remember, nations don't have our best interest in mind. It should be our diplomats that should be questioning such decisions. Indian High Commission should raise the questions. They are our nation's servants and they should have our best interests in mind. Your tax money pays for their jobs. So put pressure where it matters. Instead putting pressure on other agencies would only make us seem like whiners.

 

[ragiii]

And I'm seeing on twitter people complaining to IRCC. They are not the stakeholders here. They are not answerable to you!! Meanwhile, Indian High commission in Canada's twitter page is like a desert. Why aren't people asking questions there? It seems like our people are barking up the wrong f*cking tree man.

 

[Canada.dreamer]

They wouldn't. I mean, why would they? These nations have no take in the problem so expecting them to do this is illogical at best. Remember, nations don't have our best interest in mind. It should be our diplomats that should be questioning such decisions. Indian High Commission should raise the questions. They are our nation's servants and they should have our best interests in mind. Your tax money pays for their jobs. So put pressure where it matters. Instead putting pressure on other agencies would only make us seem like whiners.

You're right. I meant Indian embassies/ high commissions in those countries - should have phrased that correctly.

Basically, our diplomats in Canada clearly haven't been doing a great job. So I am not sure how far they'll go for us now even with increased social media/ other pressure.
So while tweeting/emailing them is still worth a shot, I feel we should raise requests with our ambassadors in other countries - countries which already have transit testing facilities. Not much that they need to do if they decide to help - just get the existing facilities extended to Indians. So we may just find some luck here.

 

[rogerdude1]

It's wrong to drag IRCC in all this, they are trying their level best with like 20-30 staff in their missions abroad. It's the big brother making these decisions.

 

[itsmecan]

Well unfortunately, it is our fellow countrymen to blame in a way. Some countries simply don't have the confidence that certificates produced are authentic. Our govt should take steps to create a system where these documents can be verified via secure link of the govt and have them officially tied up with key markets(UK, US, Canada, Middle East, etc) where Indians travel. Many countries have been doing that. Sorry to say, having a passport size picture of a political figure on your vaccination certificate does not prove its authenticity.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/travel/travel-news/fake-rt-pcr-reports-caught-the-travel-bug-has-bitten-india-in-the-wrong-manner/as84467932.cms

 

[Canada.dreamer]

Yes of course - no tagging IRCC or authorities which have no stake/say.

But let's all raise our voices on Twitter and float these ideas like the secure link verification mentioned by @itsmecan, or the obvious one to have authorised/empanelled testing centres in India like we have panel physicians. It's worth a shot, and we really don't have anything to lose at this point.

 

[ragiii]

Well unfortunately, it is our fellow countrymen to blame in a way. Some countries simply don't have the confidence that certificates produced are authentic. Our govt should take steps to create a system where these documents can be verified via secure link of the govt and have them officially tied up with key markets(UK, US, Canada, Middle East, etc) where Indians travel. Many countries have been doing that. Sorry to say, having a passport size picture of a political figure on your vaccination certificate does not prove its authenticity.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/travel/travel-news/fake-rt-pcr-reports-caught-the-travel-bug-has-bitten-india-in-the-wrong-manner/as84467932.cms

Its shit like this that smears our countries reputation. First of all, questioning the authenticity of a certificate issued in a country should come as a red flag to India and they should respond to it in some way. That's like one nation to another saying, nah you're fulla shit. I hope for once our officials will question westerners instead of being stomped on like pushovers. You can see in HCI Canada's twitter page posting stuff like India Canada ties are strong than ever just today!. Let's take a moment to ask, Are they really?? Actions don't show it clearly!

 

[ragiii]

So all I'm saying is, instead of CRYING on IRCC's twitter handle, do it with our officials. They should be doing their job. At least question the logic behind such decisions. We pay for them through taxes. They should speak for us. I can a twitter handle called Students Rights that's tagging all the officials that don't have any interest in this matter nor are they liable. Such actions are useless at best.

 

[imisstraveling]

They wouldn't. I mean, why would they? These nations have no take in the problem so expecting them to do this is illogical at best. Remember, nations don't have our best interest in mind. It should be our diplomats that should be questioning such decisions. Indian High Commission should raise the questions. They are our nation's servants and they should have our best interests in mind. Your tax money pays for their jobs. So put pressure where it matters. Instead putting pressure on other agencies would only make us seem like whiners.

I agree with what you said but can you think of any other option than tweeting and making your voices heard? There is no proper channel to contact people at High Commission and things only come in light when media is covering it.

 

[imisstraveling]

Well unfortunately, it is our fellow countrymen to blame in a way. Some countries simply don't have the confidence that certificates produced are authentic. Our govt should take steps to create a system where these documents can be verified via secure link of the govt and have them officially tied up with key markets(UK, US, Canada, Middle East, etc) where Indians travel. Many countries have been doing that. Sorry to say, having a passport size picture of a political figure on your vaccination certificate does not prove its authenticity.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/travel/travel-news/fake-rt-pcr-reports-caught-the-travel-bug-has-bitten-india-in-the-wrong-manner/as84467932.cms

Completely agree with you but whatever is mentioned is not in our hand. All we can do is to bring this issue in public attention.

 

[ayx25]

Yes agreed, we need to bring it to the attention of the right people. It’s India’s diplomat’s responsibility. First Qatar now this, we are failing at diplomatic front