Alicja Wanatko, an 11-year-old Polish girl had recently moved to India with her mother. The girl studied at a school in Goa and thrived in the beach paradise where she volunteered with an animal shelter after school.
Sadly, she was blacklisted from the country along with her mother after they overstayed their visit and her mother failed to renew their visa on time. Her mother, Marta was on a multiple entry B-2 business visa to India.
She was turned away from the Bengaluru Airport after she returned from Sri Lanka on 24 March, where she had gone to renew her Indian visa.
Marta stayed in Thailand for a few days before she was allowed to pick her daughter up and both of them were directed to leave the country. They currently stay in Cambodia but Alicja misses her favorite country, India so much!
https://twitter.com/KotlarskaMarta/status/1135121262374600704
Her mother tried multiple ways to reach out to the former External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj for help but all in vain. In her request, she had claimed that she was blacklisted by the Foreigner Regional Registration Office in Chamoli in Uttarakhand for overstaying “due to a misunderstanding”.
Her daughter has now written a letter to PM Narendra Modi to address the issue and pleaded for their return to the country.
“I love my school in Goa, the beautiful nature and I am missing my volunteering in the animal rescue center there where I was helping to take care of cows. My mum could not re-enter India on 24th March 2019 after a short trip out and we were told we were blacklisted due to our overstay,” she wrote.
https://twitter.com/KotlarskaMarta/status/1135059227678928896
The girl also spoke about her love for Lord Shiva in the letter. She also claimed that she is now rooted in Hinduism and spirituality, and in her letter says “despite not being Indian citizens, we call it home”.
“I am now with my mum, but am missing my old life in my favorite country more than ever. I feel so alone away from everything I have always known in India. I know my animals will be so confused without me and I cannot sleep without feeling angry or upset,” she further wrote.
“It feels like everything is just destroyed again. I pray to Shiva and Nanda Devi to help us and I have decided to write to you because you are the most powerful person that can help me and my mum come back to India, my home. Please help us and allow to remove us from this blacklist,” she added.
We hope that the mother-daughter duo soon gets their issues resolved!