Chief Secretary Tom Jose has sought the help of the Indian Embassy in Iran to rush assistance to traditional fishers unable to come home from Iran owing to the travel ban imposed in the country owing to massive COVID-19 outbreak.
Fisheries Minister J. Mercykutty Amma told the Assembly that Indian embassy officials had promised to provide medical aid, food, and safe drinking water to the 60-odd fishermen. They were processing similar requests from Tamil Nadu and other coastal States.
The Minister was replying to a submission moved by Congress legislator M. Vincent.
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He said the fishers were stranded in Azalur province in Iran. Some fishing companies in the country had contacted Kerala fishers to work on their deep-sea fishing vessels.
In cramped rooms
They had sent messages to their relatives that the outbreak had disrupted their travel plans, and many were confined in cramped rooms with limited access to food and safe drinking water. Some appeared to have been abandoned by their employers and had little knowledge of the local language or custom.
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India and most countries had suspended flights from Iran to contain the pandemic. Earlier, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had highlighted the plight of the Kerala fishers in Iran with Union Minister for Foreign Affairs S. Jaishankar. He had sought the Centre’s help to return the fishers to their families.