The first phase of evacuation of Indians stranded in Libya concluded successfully with a batch of 58 persons reaching the Tunisian border by bus, according to information reaching here.
“Their journey started at 12.30 p.m. and they reached the Tunisian border by 3.45 p.m.,” said a relative of a nurse who was stranded in Tripoli. Another 48 persons who wanted to return were still waiting in Libya, he said.
The first batch of evacuees mostly comprised nurses from Kerala. One person belongs to Hyderabad.
Two crew members and an Indian embassy official accompanied the 58 evacuees on the bus. They were received at the border by Indian officials in Tunisia, including Indian Ambassador to Tunis Nagma Mohammed Mallick, a 1991 batch IFS officer from Kerala.
The Indian authorities were trying to bring the workers home by air from Tunisia via Dubai, he said. (Earlier report on Page 11.)
Nurses’ meetingSpecial Correspondent writes from Thiruvananthapuram:
A meeting of nurses who returned from Iraq will be convened on August 6 to know their response to the employment offers made by various hospitals in Kerala and abroad.
This was decided at a meeting of hospital representatives convened by Non-Resident Keralites’ Affairs (NoRKA) here on Thursday. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy chaired the meeting.
About 350 nurses, including 46 who had returned from Iraq, have registered their names with NoRKA. At the meeting, hospital representatives expressed their willingness to provide employment to those nurses who wished to work in Kerala.
Employment promisedRepresentatives of various private hospitals in UAE and Saudi Arabia said they were willing to offer employment to the nurses. However, in some countries, nurses will have to write a licensing test before they can be given employment.
Minister for NoRKA K.C. Joseph said the government would get in touch with agencies which provided training to write these tests and make necessary arrangements. Steps would be taken to make available job experience certificate through the Embassy to those nurses who had to leave Iraq before securing the same.
Talks with banksThe Chief Minister said he would discuss with banks to make available some relief to those who had taken education loans. Waiving the interest on the loan or waiving the liability in those cases where the loanee had paid back more than the loan amount along with interest were some of the proposals being placed before the banks, Mr. Chandy said. A group of 200 nurses from Libya, who had registered their names with NoRKA, would start their return journey on Saturday, he said. NoRKA Secretary Rani George and CEO P. Sudeep were present at the meeting.
