Loss of income, mounting debts and an uncertain future — the things that stare most Yemen returnees, especially nurses, in the face.
“It is not exactly a happy occurrence when siblings are forced to forfeit job in quick succession and do not know what the future holds for them,” said Tincy Thomas, from Elavampadam in Palakkad, on return from Yemeni capital Sana’a on Saturday morning.
Her sister Jincy had been brought home from Aden just two days ago. Like scores of nurses from the Al-Thawra Modern General Hospital, one of the biggest in Sana’a, Tincy was to be on privilege leave from March 26, but now she was unsure if she would ever use her re-entry visa to go back to Yemen.
“We had paid four months’ pay as service charge to the agency that recruited us two years ago. Quite a chunk of the education loan is still unpaid. And without experience certificate, we do not know if we will land a job now,” she said. While some 350-odd Keralite nurses are still stuck in the hospital, Ms. Thomas sought their help to get her experience certificate. She recalled that the internal conflicts worsened on March 25 after which they were prohibited from going to the top floor of the hospital building. “Loud blasts could be heard and blaze seen, but we were largely unharmed,” she said. Nija Joseph, another nurse in the same hospital, said Aden faced more turbulence than Sana’a.
“Yemeni people are nice. But the current situation has shaken everyone. All are on the edge of sanity,” Museena Yousuf, a teacher at Sana’a for 15 years, who arrived with her husband, said. Petroleum engineer Rupesh Rajappan, who was in Yemen during the last civil strife there, said the fight was between Houthis and those who opposed them during the day, while Saudi carried out attacks after dusk.
