Headlines
50 Kerala nurses awaiting nod to return from Saudi Arabia
Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 21
Around 50 nurses
from Kerala are awaiting a nod from authorities in Saudi Arabia and the
Indian embassy to return to India, as they also want issues related to
their work experience and certificates to be taken care of.
These
nurses were evacuated on Sunday night from the troubled region of
Samtah in Saudi Arabia, very close to the Yemen border, to Jizan that is
about an hour's drive from Samtah.
T. Thanu, a nurse from Kerala
who has been working abroad for the past four years, told IANS on phone
on Monday from Jizan that they all were waiting for the permission to
return.
"We have been living in fear for the last three days at
the 150-bed Samtah general hospital attached to Saudi Arabia's health
ministry due to mortar firing and shelling around us. About 50 nurses
have decided to return to India. Sunday was our last day at work," said
Thanu.
"We want the Indian embassy to ensure that we get our
experience certificates while a few new nursing recruits get their
certificates back from the agency that recruited them," said Thanu, who
hails from Thrissur in Kerala.
These nurses were ready to
continue working in Saudi Arabia, provided they were posted in
trouble-free area, away from the Saudi-Yemen border.
"If it is not possible, we want to return to India at the earliest," she added.
Meanwhile,
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has assured these nurses that he had taken
up the issue with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. An official
from the Prime Minister's Office called them up and assured of safe
return.