Headlines
Over 350 return home from Yemen, wary of future
Kochi/Mumbai, April 2
Over 350 Indians were
safely airlifted from strife-torn Yemen, but the returnees on Thursday
were apprehensive about their future and hoped they would land jobs.
India
sent its biggest plane, the C-17 (Globemaster), to evacuate its
nationals, 190 of whom landed in Mumbai on Thursday while another 168
went to Kochi in Kerala.
Fighting has been going on in Yemen
since January 22 when the government under President Abd-Rabbu Mansour
Hadi was ousted by Shia Houthi forces. This has provoked the recent
military campaign by a coalition of 10 countries led by Saudi Arabia.
India
has initiated a highly coordinated operation to evacuate its nationals
and around 350 people stranded in Yemen's port city of Aden were brought
out by Indian Navy Ship INS Sumitra.
The returnees were happy to be back home, but were concerned about their future.
"We are really happy to be with our near and dear ones," said a nurse who was elated over her safe return in Kochi.
"The
bigger question is what will happen to our future... We want a job, but
do not know where it will come from, as we have families to look
after," said the nurse.
The number of Indian nationals in Yemen,
which was estimated around 14,000 in 2010, declined to an estimated
5,000 by June 2011 following political instability and violence in the
country. However, only around 3,000 Indians are registered with the
embassy in Sana'a.
Most of the Indians living in Yemen comprise
nurses, hospital staff, university professors, professionals, white
collar workers, IT professionals and managerial and clerical staff in
the private sector. A vast majority of them hail from Kerala but a few
belong to other states like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat,
Karnataka, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal.
Kerala's
Minister for Diaspora K.C. Joseph told IANS that they are in constant
touch with the ministry of external affairs in Delhi and with the Indian
officials in Yemen and Djibouti.
"Diplomatic efforts managed to
break ice with Saudi Arabian authorities to clear the way for a free air
zone to ensure our flights land in Yemen and then return through their
air space.
"But talks with Iranian authorities are on as their
permission is also required. There are another 2,500 Keralites including
nurses and teachers," said Joseph.
The Kerala government has given a token amount of Rs.2,000 to each of them.
Recalling
the horror, a returnee said: "The situation in Yemen is getting worse
day by day as there are frequent bombings. Bombs were dropped around 200
metres from where I stayed. The most affected are the children."
Another
returnee said: "Communications are also breaking down and then it
becomes tough for Indian Embassy officials to get in touch with
Indians."
Joseph said the state government will press the
central government to ensure that diplomatic talks are held to ensure
the return of Indians.
"Another tough ask is that nobody knows
how many Keralites are there in Yemen. But the Kerala government will do
its best to see how best we can help the nurses," Joseph said.
He said his government will look into providing jobs to the nurses who have returned.
"There
are practical difficulties to find jobs for around 2,000 nurses, but
our government will do everything possible," said Joseph.
India
has also agreed to requests from neighbours Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to
assist in evacuation of their nationals from Yemen.