Kerala: No panic call yet from Malayalees in Qatar

NORKA, a Non-Resident Keralites' Affairs Department, say that they have been in constant touch with many families in Qatar and as of now there is no panic.

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Kerala: No panic call yet from Malayalees in Qatar

There are over 6 lakh Indians working in Qatar of which nearly 3 lakh are Malayalees. The recent decision by Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt to snap ties with Qatar has pressed a panic button among several families who live in India.

The gas-rich Qatar has been one of the major destinations of Indians to find jobs. People are hoping that the present crisis will be short term and the situation will return to normalcy. Many have been told that they should watch the situation for a few more days, if it lasts more than a week, then it could termed as a severe crisis.

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NORKA, a Non-Resident Keralites' Affairs Department, say that they have been in constant touch with many families in Qatar and as of now there is no panic.

In a letter written to Kerala Chief Minister Pinrayi Vijayan they said: "We do appreciate that it is a complex situation and we are in no doubt that the union government will come out with the most appropriate diplomatic and geo-political stance in this regard taking into consideration all aspects and put in place a robust mechanism for addressing all the concerns."

Speaking to India Today, NORKA CEO K Raghavan said that there is no need for panic. "We are working very closely with the MEA," he said.

India Today spoke to some families whose relatives are in Qatar. Anees, a resident of Kannur said there are lakhs of people working in Qatar. If the situation is not resolved several Malayalees will have to return to India. Since several products are imported from Dubai, this crisis may be serious as business will be severely affected.

A travel agent Ayub said that there has been no problem as yet but since this is the time when people return to Qatar to work after Ramzan, people may have to cough up tickets which would be priced two times higher.

Qatar Airways cancelled all its flights to Saudi Arabia following the diplomatic crisis. The airline company has daily flights to the state capital Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode and another 11 weekly flights to Kochi.

The impact of the diplomatic crisis will affect flyers as they would have to skip the Hamid International Airport if they want to reach other Gulf states.

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Gulf crisis: Kerala CM Vijayan writes to Sushma Swaraj, raises concerns about Indians living in Qatar

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