Last week, the murder of Indian expat student Chirag Antil in Canada’s South Vancouver sent shivers down the spine of all the Indian parents whose children are parked overseas for higher studies. The 24-year-old was shot dead inside his vehicle after reportedly having a 30-minute-long conversation with his brother and before setting off for a dear friend’s birthday party.
The incident has been one of the many recent unfortunate reminders putting a huge question mark on the safety of Indians abroad. Canada is not the only country where the safety concerns of Indian students have come under scrutiny lately.
Taking note of the alarmingly disturbing trend of violent attacks targeting Indian students in the US, last week External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that even though all such cases of violence and murder were unconnected nevertheless, they were a cause for “big concern.”
While some of the students have been murdered for personal rivalries and issues, many others have been victims of violence, racism, mugging, and shootings.
Last year, according to data released by India’s Ministry of External Affairs, 403 international students from India died between the years 2018 and 2023 while studying in countries around the world due to natural causes, accidents and medical conditions.
The above statistics also give an insight into the safety patterns of different nations, with Canada representing more than one-fifth of the total number of deaths abroad in the period. As per the data, 91 Indian students died in Canada, followed by 48 in the UK, 40 in Russia and 36 in the US.
As the Vancouver Police Department continues investigating the shooting of Chirag Antil, this is not the only case highlighting the attacks on unsuspecting students.
Lately, far too many unfortunate incidents with Indian students in the US have come to the fore. In February this year, a Hyderabad student was ambushed and held at gunpoint in Chicago.
The incident came to light when hardly a few days had passed after Indian student Shreyas Reddy Benigar was found dead in Ohio. A student at the Lindner School of Business, Cincinnati, Benigar was pursuing a degree in Business Statistics.
Even though the police investigation is still underway, so far, no foul play has been suspected. A few weeks back in January, yet another Indian student Neel Acharya was found dead a few days after being reported as missing.
A student of Computer Science and Data Science at the prestigious Purdue University in Indiana, US, Acharya went missing after being last dropped by an Uber driver at the campus.
Moving on, after Canada, the UK, Russia and the US, 35 students died in Australia during the same period, 21 in Ukraine and 20 in Germany. According to the data, 14 Indian students died in Cyprus, 10 each in the Philippines and Italy and nine each in Qatar, China and Kyrgyzstan.
While speaking to the media, Jaishankar said, “Obviously in every case, whenever anything unfortunate has happened to the students, it is of great tragedy for the family and a big concern for us but our embassy or consulate has looked into every case and they are unconnected.”
With an estimated 11 to 12 lakh Indian students residing in foreign countries, their welfare should be a top priority of any incumbent government. In a situation like this, where the circumstances largely differ, students and parents of expat students must be oriented for safety measures on foreign soil.
US and Canada — top destinations for Indian students
According to the data shared by the Bureau of Immigration Statistics, only 40, 431 foreign students came to India in 2023 for higher studies, whereas the erosion of Indian students onto foreign shores was much higher.
The United States (4.65 lakh students( and Canada (1.83 lakh students) remain the top two destinations for Indians pursuing higher studies abroad. These two countries are followed up by Australia (1 lakh), UAE (1.64 lakh) and the United Kingdom (0.55 lakh) according to the estimated data of Indian students studying abroad in 2022.
With the recent rise in attacks on Indian students in America, the UK’s economy struggling to recover and much of the conventional study destinations being saturated with aspirants, it is imperative to explore alternative, safer and upcoming destinations.
The DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) data shows that the number of Indians studying in Germany doubled in the last five years, thereby making Indians the largest community of international students on German campuses.
Currently, there are an estimated 42, 997 Indian students studying in Germany, with this number expected to show a steep rise in the next few years.
The Netherlands is yet another destination gaining popularity as an alternative to conventional study destinations. As per the data from the Indian embassy in The Netherlands, over 3,500 Indians are pursuing different courses in the country.
The 2023 Global Peace Index ranks Iceland as the safest country in the world for Indians and other international students.
While addressing the press in Bengaluru last week, Jaishankar also emphasised that “embassies have been instructed to keep in touch with students and chat with them to warn them, especially about dangerous areas of cities to avoid.” Safety measures need to factor in every aspect, right from when a student decides on the destination.
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