Indian students enrolled in Italian universities stranded back home due to travel ban

Italy had on June 26 permitted Italian residents or Italian citizens with Registry of Resident Italians Abroad, to travel to the country from India, Bangladesh and Sri lanka.

Indian students who had rushed back home from Italy to be with their family members or take part in last rites of the loved ones at the peak of the second wave of COVID-19 are now stranded here as air travel remains banned to the European country. As the students witnessed a flashback similar to the brutal first wave of COVID-19 in Italy last year, many of them had rushed back home earlier in the year. While some managed to come home in time, few were late to meet the last minute rush when Italy closed their international borders to India. Those who returned to India before April 28, when air travel to and from the country was suspended, are now stuck here even though their peers back in Italy have gone back to their normal lives in universities.