Despite risk, some Malayalis still hesitant to leave Yemen

KOCHI/KANNUR: Even as the last flight leaves Sana'a on Sunday carrying Indian embassy officials out of Yemen, a few more Indians are still left behind in interior regions, according to officials.
The Non-Resident Keralites' Affairs (Norka) department
suspects they are either unwilling or unable to move out. "The embassy has been sending messages
to everyone registered with them.We have also been using the services of returnees to get in touch with them
.
Anybody who wants to get back will hopefully reach Aden or Al Hodeidah on Sunday," said Norka CEO R S Kannan.
Meanwhile, government officials said 450 evacuees disembarked from INS Tarkash which arrived at Djibouti at 8am local time on Saturday. INS Mumbai and INS Sumitra are scheduled to reach Al Hodeidah on Sunday while INS Tarkash is scheduled to depart from Djibouti on Sunday along with MV Kavaratti and MV Coral India.
Tincy Thomas, who worked in Aden and was among the first evacuees aboard INS Sumitra
, said some senior nurses still worked at a hospital in Al Hodeidah. "The juniors were hoping to get their certificates, passports and salaries. Some of the older nurses in their 50s
are unsure of returning considering the low pay they would get here," she said.
"About 53 Malayalis are staying back at Al Wahda university hospital in Mabar as many have taken huge loans to study and get jobs. When I spoke to them, my friends said that they can't afford to return. They have been assured that everything is okay
," said Jessy Shiby, who got back from Aden last week.
"In government hospitals, the pay is given once in three months. It was time to get the salaries when the war got worse, so people waited. In some hospitals, the authorities have given huge pay raises too. A Yemeni friend, however, called me this morning and asked which country was the best to migrate, even asking about India
," said Susha Rani, a teacher who worked at Yemen modern school in Sana'a.
Meanwhile, Norka will start a web portal to facilitate the rehabilitation of returnees, Norka minister K C Joseph said. "The web portal will have all details of returnees.
Steps for their rehabilitation would be finalized in the next cabinet meeting," he said at a press conference
in Kannur on Saturday.
As government appointments are done through PSC, the can't offer them jobs directly. However,
Businessmen like Norka-Roots vice-chairman C K Menon and Azad Moopen have offered them employment, he said. "The evacuation from Yemen is almost over and 2,348 out of the 2,583 Indians evacuated from the country
are Malayalis."
The chief minister had requested the Centre to extend evacuation by air for two more days
, but this couldn't be done as the clearance time given by Saudi Arabia was over, he said. Nurses at Al-Thawra hospital said they would stay back as the Houthi rebels were treating them well, Joseph said.
(With inputs from P Sudhakaran)