E-Paper
Vijayan seeks PM’s help amid expats’ safety fears in West Asia
Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan urged PM Modi for action on the safety of Kerala expatriates in West Asia amid regional conflicts, offering state assistance.
Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, expressing concerns over the safety concerns of the Kerala expatriates living in West Asia, amid the conflict in the region after the US-Israeli air strikes on Iran and its retaliatory action on the US bases in the Gulf countries, especially the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. The chief minister sought action from the Union government in transporting them back home.
“We need to have preparedness to ensure safety of ‘pravasis’ (expatriates), including an action to bring them back safely, if situation demands. I am sure that Government of India will be seriously thinking about this,” the chief minister said. “I also take this opportunity to assure that the government of Kerala is ready to offer any kind of assistance possible from its side, including providing helplines to enable relatives to contact the pravasis,” he added.
Nithish John, employed near the international city in Dubai, spoke of hearing explosions through the morning from his office.
“I could see missiles zooming past in the sky and being intercepted by the defence systems of the government here. There were loud explosions. We are getting regular security alerts from the local government on our phones,” he said.
A healthcare worker in UAE said she could not sleep through the night due to the sound of explosions.
“It was quite alarming to hear loud bangs throughout the night. When we looked up in the sky, we could see rockets and missiles zooming past. This is the first such experience in my life,” she said.
There are an estimated 3.5 million Keralites living and employed in the Gulf, with over 60% of them in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
NoRKA-Roots, the Kerala government agency working for the welfare of expatriates, has opened two helpline numbers for those needing assistance: 91-8802012345 and 1800-425-3939 (toll-free number within India).
A state government release said the helpline numbers received over 500 calls within a day, with over 350 of them from relatives of expatriates in India. While 78 calls were received from the UAE, 49 were received from Qatar and 39 from Bahrain.
Dr Danish Salim, a medical doctor and social media influencer based in the UAE, said the current situation does not warrant panic among the general public.
“The UAE government is monitoring the situation and is delivering timely updates. Systems which can intercept aerial missiles are active. Therefore, there is no cause for fears right now. I have been working at the Abu Dhabi government hospital. Daily life moves on as usual here,” said Salim in a Facebook post.
The conflict in West Asia has also led to a flurry of flight cancellations from all four international airports in Kerala. The airports collectively handle around 100 flights daily to the Gulf region. The closure of the airport in Dubai has primarily affected the movement of airlines.
Meanwhile, eight Indians, including three from Kerala, have been stuck at Karachi airport in Pakistan after the Air Arabia flight they were on from Baku to Kuwait was diverted to Karachi due to the ongoing tensions, a government release said. The External Affairs Ministry has intervened and efforts are on to bring them to India via Colombo, it said.
