When you plan your first international trip abroad, you make sure to keep all your documents, money and passport in hand and hope that it goes without a hassle, right?
However, things did not go according to plan for Khushu Kaushal who was deported from Georgia on her first solo trip abroad, but not before being thoroughly harassed by authorities first.
In a Facebook post, Kaushal wrote that right after she landed, she was asked to wait for nine hours, made to deal with several rude officials who did not even bother offering her water, before she was deported back to India.
Was it that she wasn’t carrying all her documents?
I was carrying approved e-visa, letter from my employer stating I was on a holiday and will be joining back after my vacation, my bank statement to prove my financial stability, my hotel bookings to prove my stay in the country is legit and health and travel insurance in case anything happens to me while I am in your country.
Okay so if not that, then what?
“After three hours of my arrival to Tbilisi I was not yet given any information or attended to, so I went to ask for my status and was then told that I am being sent back. When I requested for a reason I was shouted at and told to sit in a corner.”
It didn’t stop there as her ordeal only got worse.
“Finally at 12 am, seven hours after arrival to your country, I was allowed to buy food and water and asked to sit in a room so that other passengers shouldn’t get a look at how people are really treated by your immigration... I was rushed to the flight and when I asked for my passport it was said that I will not be handed it to me till I reach Mumbai,” she wrote.
Kaushal wrote that even the information given to the Indian immigration authorities was different from what she was given.
My friends who checked with Indian MEA found a contradictory issue that was reported to them but not filed... that my passport was damaged and potentially duplicated. I challenge you to take a look at my passport and tell me that if my passport is good enough for other countries that I have travelled to then what was the problem in yours?
Then, Kaushal went on to deduce the the reason for the hostile treatment meted out to her.
“I wanted to check what might be the reason for sudden hatred towards Indians... Guess what I found out? Georgian government had invited Indian farmers to come and cultivate the lands which Georgian people were not able to work at. This sudden influx of Indians, as invited by your government, has increased discontent and hatred towards Indians in general, which I guess has resulted in your immigration officers being racists.”
While the Georgian authorities have not yet responded to Kaushal, one can only hope that it’s noticed.
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