Three nurses from Kerala, India, have been left stranded in Saudi Arabia for more than two years, with no source of income and no documents to come back to their home country. “We have been unemployed for more than two years, and are unable to return to our homes because we do not have the papers,” Saramma V., one of the nurses, said over the phone from Riyadh. “The clinic in which we worked was suddenly closed down on Jan. 3 without giving us any prior notice or options for job change. Since then we have been stranded here and can't work or return home,” said Saramma. The other two nurses are Subhadra O. K. and Sreelatha V. N. All three nurses were working at a clinic in Riyadh for many years under the sponsorship of a Saudi national who passed away in 2009. Later, 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. A Kingdom-based organization that provides legal assistance has now petitioned the Indian ambassador in Saudi Arabia to request the immediate intervention of the Embassy of India in the three nurses' case. “A labor court in May last year issued a judgment in our favor. The sponsor was ordered to pay us wages and return all our documents. However, 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-Resident Keralite Affairs) in Riyadh has intervened and things are moving,” said an official from Chandy's office.
