File photo: Kerala nurses meet after their return from Iraq earlier this month
For many of the 46 nurses who have returned from war-torn Iraq after the intervention of Indian government, it's a new struggle, of finding jobs and financial stability.
The Kerala government, through its NORKA Wing, has come forward in providing a platform for these nurses and possible future employers who have shown interest in hiring them. The NORKA wing is facilitating the interaction between hospitals and organisations which want to help these nurses with jobs and financial assistance.
All 46 nurses have been called to the state capital Thiruvananthapuram to enable their rehabilitation. They will meet Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.
The nurses, along with 137 other Indians, returned on board a special Air India flight from Erbil earlier this month. Mr Chandy received the nurses at Kochi airport.
The nurses were held captive by the Sunni insurgent group ISIS in Iraq and were later freed.
Besides the 46 nurses, the flight also brought back over 80 Indian workers rescued from Kirkuk in northern Iraq, 52 from Telangana, 24 from Andhra Pradesh and four from Tamil Nadu.
A day after nurses' return, a special chartered flight carrying 200 more Indians from Najaf landed in Delhi. About 10,000 Indians work in Iraq, where a jihadist-led offensive has led to swathes of territory across five provinces fall out of government hands. Scores of them have returned to India since fighting began.