Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - HT Navi Mumbai Live
Rescued from Yemen, they got shelter in city
NAVI MUMBAI: Hundreds of Keralites, who were evacuated from strife- torn Yemen by the Indian government, have made Kerala Bhavan in Vashi their temporary abode.
The Kerala state government is providing them food and accommodation at the Bhavan free of cost.
Apart from that, the state gover nment has also been bearing the expenses of their railway or air tickets to go their native places and granted Rs2,000 to each of them for additional expenses.
“Around 600 Keralites rescued in the past four to five days, stayed here for a night. We have been sending them to Kerala either by flights or by trains in groups,” said Rajesh Kumar, non-resident Keralites development officer, Mumbai.
“On Wednesday, as many as 308 people came to our Bhavan from the airport. We sent 160 of them by trains and 171 by flights. Around 25 people are still at our premises,” he said.
According to t he Kumar more than 60% of these people are women and children. Several people had been living in Yemen for more than a decade.
Frances Xavier, 44, president of Pravashi Indian Welfare Association, Yemen, said, “I stayed at Sana’a with my family. On the night of March 26, we heard noises of bomb blasts in the mountains which were just five kilometres away from our place.”
Xavier said, “We then called our Yemeni friends and learnt t hat t he country had been attacked by a group of other countries.”
“On March 28, the Indian embassy officials called an urgent meeting to tell us that we would have to l eave the country soon. The evacuation started on March 30 by two ships,” he added.
Laiju Jacob, 45, who was working with a shipping company at Yemen said, “We were not scared as residential areas had not been attacked. We reached Mumbai on April 7 and then came to Kerala Bhavan.”
Many Indians residing in Yemen were Keralites.
When asked if they were planning to go back to Yemen, Xavier said, “I had been in Yemen for 21 years and have a total investment of $ 2,00,000 there. After the war, when flights will be re- started from India to Yemen, I will be the first passenger to board the flight.