'Escaped bombs, traveled 500-km by road and..., Stranded Kolkata professor reaches Iran-Azerbaijan border, but his problem doesn't end here

India.com

11 hours ago

'Escaped bombs, traveled 500-km by road and..., Stranded Kolkata professor reaches Iran-Azerbaijan border, but his problem doesn't end here
After a risky 500-kilometre road trip out of war-hit Tehran, Indian tourist Falguni Dey finally reached Iran's Astara border near Azerbaijan on Tuesday evening. But his problems did not end here. Dey is now stuck at the border because he needs special permission, a migration code, from the Azerbaijan government to enter the country. His e-visa is not enough to cross the border.
Speaking to news agency PTI through a voice message, Dey said, 'I escaped the bombs in Tehran by making this long journey, but now I'm stuck here at the Astara border. The Azerbaijan officials won't let me in without that migration code, and they say it will take at least two weeks to get it. I don't know how I'll survive that long here.'
Dey, who is a college professor from Kolkata, hoped to reach Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, and fly home from there. But now, even though Baku is just about 300 kilometres away, staying safe and getting there feels out of reach.
Falguni Dey, an Indian tourist and amateur mountaineer, who had gone to Tehran on June 5 to climb Mount Damavand, a famous volcanic peak. But his plans were ruined after the city came under missile attacks from Israel. He remained stuck in Tehran until June 17. Finally, he decided to take a risky 500-km road journey to reach Iran's Astara border with Azerbaijan.
Now, Dey is exhausted both physically and emotionally. He also has very little money left and is deeply worried. 'I feel hopeless. My family and friends spent so much to help me get out, and now it feels like everything is wasted,' he said, almost in tears.
His family in Kolkata had booked a hotel for him in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, where he was supposed to arrive on Wednesday. But they had to cancel the booking because he couldn't cross the border. The flight from Baku to Mumbai, which Dey had already booked, also got cancelled because of all the problems and uncertainty.
'No one in Tehran told me that my e-visa wouldn't work for land travel into Azerbaijan. I had no idea I also needed a special migration code. I applied for it as soon as I found out, but officials replied by email saying it will take at least 15 days,' Dey explained.
He added, 'How can I wait here for so long? There are many other foreigners here too, with different types of visas, and I see them crossing the border. But as an Indian, I'm being told that I must have that migration code, no matter what.'
'No one told me in Tehran that my e-visa wasn't sufficient to cross over to Azerbaijan by land and that I also needed this special migration passcode, especially in a war situation like this. I wasted no time in starting the application process for that code, but the authorities have responded to me over e-mail stating the process would require a minimum of 15 days to complete,' Dey said.
Dey recounted how the car that transported him from Tehran to Astara had to make multiple stops for food, toilet needs, and refuelling. 'There is currently a cap on car fuel in Iran. Refuelling is not possible beyond a prescribed limit. So we had to make multiple stops to tank up,' Dey said.
Dey is currently at his wit's end in figuring out how to return home.
Meanwhile, all Indians in Tehran were on Tuesday advised to move out of the city to safe locations and be in touch with the embassy, as the conflict between Iran and Israel intensified.