Kerala nurses stranded in Saudi Arabia
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Three nurses from Kerala have been left stranded in Saudi Arabia for more than two years - with no source of income and no documents to come back to the country.
"We have been unemployed for more than two years, and are unable return to our homes because we do not have the papers," Saramma.V, one of the nurse said over phone from Riyadh, the Saudi capital.
"The clinic which we worked suddenly closed down on 3 January 2010 without giving us any prior notice or options for job change. Since then we are stranded here and can't work nor return home," said Saramma.
The other two nurses are Subhadra O.K and Sreelatha V.N.
All the three nurses were working with a clinic in Riyadh for the past many years under the sponsorship of a Saudi national who passed away in 2009.
Later the management of the clinic was given to his son who transferred it to another Saudi national. After the new person took over, it closed down.
An organisation based in Saudi Arabia, that provides legal assistance, has now petitioned the Indian ambassador in Saudi Arabia, requesting the immediate intervention of the embassy for the three nurses.
"A labour court in May last year issued a judgement favouring us - ordering the sponsor to pay us wages and immediately return all our documents. He filed an appeal in the High Court and our case was rejected in January this year and now we are helpless. Whenever we approach the Indian embassy, they ask us to wait," said Saramma.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has intervened in this issue and steps are being taken to bring the three nurses home.
"The representative of NORKA(Non Resdient Keralite Affairs)in Riyadh has intervened and things are moving," said an official in Chandy's office.
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