DUBAI and MUMBAI: At least three Indian nurses from the southern state of Kerala have been stranded in Saudi Arabia for the past two years, without money and no documents to allow them to return home, media reports suggested on Sunday. “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 nurses told Saudi media from Riyadh, the Saudi capital. “The clinic which we worked suddenly closed down on January 3, 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. All the three nurses were working at a local clinic in Riyadh 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 organization based in Saudi that provides legal assistance, has petitioned the Indian ambassador in Saudi Arabia, requesting the immediate intervention of the embassy for the three nurses. “A labor court in May last year issued a judgement favoring 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. In India's rural city of Nashik, many laborers who have worked in Saudi Arabia are not surprised over the situation. They told Bikyamasr.com that “working in the Gulf is like working in hell and we never want to go back there again. This is what happens.” The Indian Embassy in both Riyadh and Dubai would not comment on the specifics of the situation, saying they were “working to resolve any crisis facing Indians.” BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/vg3zs Tags: Clinic, India, Kerala, Nurses, Saudi Section: Health, Human Rights, Latest News, Saudi Arabia, South Asia
