In 2 recent camps for facilitating Indians to be recruited by foreign companies, only 155 out of 850 nurses qualified the licensing test for UAE.
Raji Shashkumar, a 30-year-old nurse from Kerala, was among the last to be evacuated from Yemen by the government in April as part of Operation Rahat. Her nine-day old child was flown in to India on a ventilator.
Raji, who worked for 12 years in Yemen, says she wouldn't mind going back to the war-ravaged country. In Kerala, she doesn't have a job. Her husband works as a daily labourer since they were evacuated from Yemen. For now, the couple has taken loans from relatives to survive.
"I am willing to go anywhere. We have a loan of Rs 5 lakh, no income, no jobs. It's not about greed. I will have to leave my child behind with parents. She falls sick often," says Raji.
Similarly, 38-year-old Shobha K worked in Yemen for four years before being evacuated. She has a family of six to feed, including her two children, and no income. A home nurse, she worked as a lab technician but now is willing to even do cleaning jobs.
"Ministers have told me over 2000 people have returned to Kerala, we cannot give jobs to everyone. I am willing to do cleaning jobs," said a tearful Shobha.
Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh had recently said, "Government can't get back everyone every time. Nurses are still going to those countries where we have shut down our embassies, have issued advisories. This is because of their greed."
Despite the risk, countries like Libya, Iraq and Yemen still beckon Indian nurses because of relatively easier rules and tests of recruitment than other countries like Saudi Arabia or the UAE.
In two recent camps held by Kerala's Nodal Agency for facilitating Indians to be recruited by foreign companies, only 155 out of 850 nurses qualified the licensing test for the UAE. Many who were earlier offered jobs in Kerala refused them because of the low salaries.
"These nurses have to be trained, equipped for licensing tests. It's difficult to accommodate such huge number with employment but the process is on...we are getting a lot of demand even now for Indian nurses even from countries like Yemen... but as a policy we are now only sending them to safe countries," says RS Kanan, CEO Non-Resident Keralites Affairs.