Habitat for Humanity volunteers held for 21 hours at Indian border, refused entry

A group of volunteers headed from Canada to India to build a home for a family in need say they were held for 21 hours without their travel documents or luggagebefore being turned away at the border because they didn't have "missionary visas."

Five Calgariansand three people from Lethbridge landed in Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore) on Oct. 5.

They all had their Canadian passports and the same visas that they say had been used byprior Habitat for Humanity groups to visit the country that were filled out correctly, said Gordon Ross, one of the volunteers.

After nearly two days in the air,the group was ready to get moving, Ross said, but they were held up at border security.

"The border guard was quite hostile frankly right from the start," he said.

The group was questioned about the hotel they were staying at, and then told by the border officer that they had the wrong visas and he had to consult with his colleagues. Border security then took the travellers' passports and paperwork, leaving them waitingwhile officers consulted with each other.

"No one was very forthcoming," Ross said. "We've flown halfway around the world, almost two days of travel, we've put money toward this build for a family, Habitat India was waiting outside to pick us up."

Group told they needed missionary visas

Finally, an officer came forward to tell the group that they were missionaries not home-building volunteers and denied them entry.

While Habitat for Humanity definesitself as a Christian housing charity, volunteers with the non-governmental organization (NGO) primarily work to build homes rather than spread religious ideology.

Missionary visas require a separate application process. Ross said his group used tourist visas, as they were advised to by Habitat for Humanity which had previously used the same visa type on other trips to the country.

"We lost two days of travel on our tickets there, the ability to do the build, and our return flight," said Ross, who added the group scrambled to find tickets out of Indiaand had to cover their return flights on their own dime.

"We acted with some patience and humour but it was a rough time."

Ross said the group was most upset that they won't be building a home for a family in need.

"I really feel sorry for the family, they're not going to get us building their house"

The Albertans decided to make the most of thesituation and fly to Thailand and Vietnam for a vacation before heading home later this month.

CBC News has reached out to Habitat for Humanity Canada Global Village and the Canadian consulate in Bengalurufor comment.

• MORE CALGARY NEWS |WestJet's first 3 long-haul Dreamliners will fly direct between Calgary and Europe
• MORE CALGARY NEWS |40 minutes inside the fentanyl crisis
• Read more articles byCBC Calgary, like us onFacebookfor updates and subscribe to ourCBC Calgary newsletterfor the day's news at a glance

With files from Shauna Smith Duncan.