As fierce fighting between Shiite rebels and the Saudi-led coalition intensifies in Yemen, the sounds of heavy shelling and gunshots can be heard even in the military hospital in the capital of Sanaa. Yet, about 15 medical staff from Kerala have decided to stay put in their jobs at the facility, even as more than 250 of their colleagues are getting ready to leave the city.
Approximately 2,300 Indians have been evacuated from the country since New Delhi launched Operation Rahat last week to rescue its citizens trapped in the escalating conflict. The Indian government estimates that there were more than 4,000 Indians in Yemen when the conflict broke out. More than half of them were Keralites ‒ and most of them are nurses.
But despite the danger in which they find themselves, a few Malayali nurses have decided to remain in war-torn Yemen because they believe that their prospects at home will be even bleaker. Most of them have taken substantial loans to work on the Gulf, and will have no way of paying their debtors if they return. "The fighters spare the hospitals and the staff but the people whom we owe money may not show any such mercy on us," one nurse explained, asking to remain unidentified.
This woman has racked up Rs 5 lakhs in debt to pay for a nursing course in Karnataka and then to travel to Yemen. She has two sisters to marry off and said she may not be able to sleep peacefully if she returns home. Seeing the plight of Malayali nurses who returned from conflict-hit Iraq and Libya deterred her from taking the flight back, she said.
Loans and responsibilities
Paramedic Ranjith Cheerakathil, who works at the hospital along with his wife, a nurse, said that most of those who have chosen to stay face the same predicament. They have loans to pay off and family responsibilities, said Ranjith, who has been working in the hospital for the last six years.
But despite their resolve to stay, they may just be forced to go home. Reports say that that the authorities in Yemen have directed all foreign nationals to leave the country. Already, these medics are under pressure from the Indian Embassy to leave.
Among those who have reluctantly heeded the embassy's advice are Thurshara and Tessy, who joined the hospital only two months ago after paying Rs.1.5 lakhs each to recruiting agents. Thushara, who hails from Kottayam, said she did not want to return but she could not risk her life.
The two had signed up to work in Yemen without any idea about the hostile conditions in the country. But with medical institutions in Kerala churning about 20,000 nurses nurses a year, employment isn't easy to come by in the state. Many Malayali nurses work in other parts of India, but complain that the average salaries ‒ which range widely from Rs 5,000 to Rs 25,000 ‒ are insufficient for those with the responsibility of paying off educational loans.
That, as it turns out, is a situation in which most of the state's nurses find themselves. Since the number of seats in government-run colleges is limited, most nursing aspirants join private institutions that require them to pay capitation fees and have high tuition costs. Most private nursing colleges charge fees of between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 2 lakh, though some could end up paying as much as Rs 5 lakhs, a recent study found.
Those going abroad have to make more payments to recruiting agents. This amount could range from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakhs for jobs in countries that take nurses without any tests. However, in certain cases, the nurses pay even more. The Income Tax authorities recently arrested a recruiting agent who was charging Rs 19.5 lakhs ‒ 100 times more than the legal fee ‒ to send nurses to Kuwait. The recruitment agency and the Protector of Emigrants, who cleared the appointment, are now under the scanner of the Central Bureau of Investigation.
The roots of the problem
Nurses from Kerala began to emigrate in the 1960s, when developed countries experienced an acute scarcity of nurses. Kerala's strong educational system and its stellar healthcare institutions made it relatively easy for nurses from the state to find jobs in Europe, according to a study conducted by the Indian Institution of Management, Bangalore [PDF]. The movement from the state gained momentum in the 1970s, when the Gulf countries opened their doors to the nurses following the oil boom.
Today, nurses constitute 15% of the women emigrating from Kerala, according to a study by the Centre for Development Studies, Trivandrum. They are the main breadwinners for their households, it added.
The most preferred destination of Malayali nurses is the US and Europe, where salaries and working conditions are better than the Middle East. Many nurses attempt to obtain citizenship in these countries and then take their families there. But entrance tests for hospitals in these countries are difficult, and the training nurses receive in Kerala's private colleges is often inadequate to face these exams.
As a consequence, many Malayali nurses try to head to countries that do not require them to pass tests. While countries like the UAE, Oman and Saudi Arabia hire nurses only after they have taken tests, Iraq, Libya and Yemen only required nurses to pass an interview.
Aware of the dangers faced by nurses from the state, the Kerala government has been trying to prevent recruits from travelling to countries with hazardous conditions. But many nurses choose to ignore the government's advice, said RS Kannan, CEO of Norka-Roots, the field agency of the Non-Resident Keralites Affairs department.
He hoped that the state government will be able to exercise some controls on emigrating nurses from May 1, since the Central government has entrusted recruitment to Norka-Roots and the government-run Overseas Development and Employment Promotion Consultants. The government has also banned private recruitments after about 350 nurses returned without the promised jobs.
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Approximately 2,300 Indians have been evacuated from the country since New Delhi launched Operation Rahat last week to rescue its citizens trapped in the escalating conflict. The Indian government estimates that there were more than 4,000 Indians in Yemen when the conflict broke out. More than half of them were Keralites ‒ and most of them are nurses.
But despite the danger in which they find themselves, a few Malayali nurses have decided to remain in war-torn Yemen because they believe that their prospects at home will be even bleaker. Most of them have taken substantial loans to work on the Gulf, and will have no way of paying their debtors if they return. "The fighters spare the hospitals and the staff but the people whom we owe money may not show any such mercy on us," one nurse explained, asking to remain unidentified.
This woman has racked up Rs 5 lakhs in debt to pay for a nursing course in Karnataka and then to travel to Yemen. She has two sisters to marry off and said she may not be able to sleep peacefully if she returns home. Seeing the plight of Malayali nurses who returned from conflict-hit Iraq and Libya deterred her from taking the flight back, she said.
Loans and responsibilities
Paramedic Ranjith Cheerakathil, who works at the hospital along with his wife, a nurse, said that most of those who have chosen to stay face the same predicament. They have loans to pay off and family responsibilities, said Ranjith, who has been working in the hospital for the last six years.
But despite their resolve to stay, they may just be forced to go home. Reports say that that the authorities in Yemen have directed all foreign nationals to leave the country. Already, these medics are under pressure from the Indian Embassy to leave.
Among those who have reluctantly heeded the embassy's advice are Thurshara and Tessy, who joined the hospital only two months ago after paying Rs.1.5 lakhs each to recruiting agents. Thushara, who hails from Kottayam, said she did not want to return but she could not risk her life.
The two had signed up to work in Yemen without any idea about the hostile conditions in the country. But with medical institutions in Kerala churning about 20,000 nurses nurses a year, employment isn't easy to come by in the state. Many Malayali nurses work in other parts of India, but complain that the average salaries ‒ which range widely from Rs 5,000 to Rs 25,000 ‒ are insufficient for those with the responsibility of paying off educational loans.
That, as it turns out, is a situation in which most of the state's nurses find themselves. Since the number of seats in government-run colleges is limited, most nursing aspirants join private institutions that require them to pay capitation fees and have high tuition costs. Most private nursing colleges charge fees of between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 2 lakh, though some could end up paying as much as Rs 5 lakhs, a recent study found.
Those going abroad have to make more payments to recruiting agents. This amount could range from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakhs for jobs in countries that take nurses without any tests. However, in certain cases, the nurses pay even more. The Income Tax authorities recently arrested a recruiting agent who was charging Rs 19.5 lakhs ‒ 100 times more than the legal fee ‒ to send nurses to Kuwait. The recruitment agency and the Protector of Emigrants, who cleared the appointment, are now under the scanner of the Central Bureau of Investigation.
The roots of the problem
Nurses from Kerala began to emigrate in the 1960s, when developed countries experienced an acute scarcity of nurses. Kerala's strong educational system and its stellar healthcare institutions made it relatively easy for nurses from the state to find jobs in Europe, according to a study conducted by the Indian Institution of Management, Bangalore [PDF]. The movement from the state gained momentum in the 1970s, when the Gulf countries opened their doors to the nurses following the oil boom.
Today, nurses constitute 15% of the women emigrating from Kerala, according to a study by the Centre for Development Studies, Trivandrum. They are the main breadwinners for their households, it added.
The most preferred destination of Malayali nurses is the US and Europe, where salaries and working conditions are better than the Middle East. Many nurses attempt to obtain citizenship in these countries and then take their families there. But entrance tests for hospitals in these countries are difficult, and the training nurses receive in Kerala's private colleges is often inadequate to face these exams.
As a consequence, many Malayali nurses try to head to countries that do not require them to pass tests. While countries like the UAE, Oman and Saudi Arabia hire nurses only after they have taken tests, Iraq, Libya and Yemen only required nurses to pass an interview.
Aware of the dangers faced by nurses from the state, the Kerala government has been trying to prevent recruits from travelling to countries with hazardous conditions. But many nurses choose to ignore the government's advice, said RS Kannan, CEO of Norka-Roots, the field agency of the Non-Resident Keralites Affairs department.
He hoped that the state government will be able to exercise some controls on emigrating nurses from May 1, since the Central government has entrusted recruitment to Norka-Roots and the government-run Overseas Development and Employment Promotion Consultants. The government has also banned private recruitments after about 350 nurses returned without the promised jobs.