(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Some 25 nurses are unable to return as they have not received their certificates passports and travel documents from their employers.
After a brief respite the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government in Kerala is once again getting ready for launching yet another operation to evacuate a fresh set of Keralites from the strife-torn Libya.
Non-resident Keralites Affairs (Norka) Minister KC Joseph met External Affairs Minister Sushama Swaraj at New Delhi on Friday and urged her to take immediate steps to ensure the safe return of all the people stranded in the country. Sushama Swaraj has promised to do the needful.
These people could not join the earlier batches of evacuees as their job contracts had not expired then. More than 500 nurses have been rescued from Iraq and Libya so far. Some of the early returnees have also managed to get jobs in hospitals run by Indians in the Middle East and in India. The state government has handed over to the External Affairs Ministry a list of over 70 persons who want to return to the state. This include 25 nurses who have taken shelter at the Medical Centre at Bengazhi following closure of the hospitals where they worked in the wake of the conflicts.
These nurses are unable to return as they have not received their certificates passports and travel documents from their employers. Parents of some these nurses said that the hospital managements were refusing to release these documents. Most of them have also not been paid salaries for several months.
Sheena E Thomas who is among the group of nurses stranded at Bengazhi told her family that the hospital managements were also not releasing their documents even after the expiry of their contracts.
Her father E M Thomas said that the condition of his daughter and other nurses was very serious. They have been living without proper amenities for the past several days. They are running short of food and water. The parents have formed an Action Council to pursue the matter. Office bearers of the council had met Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and sought help from the government.
Action Council chairman Thankachan Varghese said that the chief minister had assured all assistance. P. Sudeep Chief Executive Officer NoRKA Roots said that steps were already on to bring the stranded Indians back to the country. He said that the Indian envoys were trying to locate all the Indian citizens stranded in different parts of Libya.
He said that the federal government had deputed a special officer to Libya to make travel arrangements for all those who are willing to leave the country. The authorities were considering the options of airlifting them through Malta or Tobruk which is located some 300km from Bengazhi. Sudeeb said that the state government was in constant interaction with the nurses and the Indian Ambassador in Libya. He said all the nurses were safe as of now. The government is also trying to get them their salaries and documents he added.
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