Kochi: The Southern Naval Command (SNC) in Kochi on Sunday hosted 127 Indian deportees who had arrived from Bahrain in a special flight.
According to SNC officials, the deportees who landed at the Cochin International Airport (CIAL) in a special Gulf Air flight, were immediately shifted to the naval quarantine facility at the School for Naval Airmen (SFNA).
"After finishing all procedures set in place by the CIAL officials, as part of the COVID-19 protocols, the deportees were shifted to KSRTC buses. We ensured that all social distancing norms were observed through the exercise," an airport official said.
He couldn't immediately ascertain whether all the deportees were from Kerala or also from other parts of India.
"I haven't seen the list and cannot ascertain the same as of now. We transferred them to the naval base," he said.
The entire process of shifting the deportees was executed under the aegis of district administration, until they were handed over to the naval authorities at SNC.
Defence Spokesperson Cdr Sridhar Warrior told Onmanorama on Monday morning that the deportees arrived at the base at 10.30 pm on Sunday.
"Our quarantine facility was set up soon after the government guidelines were out with the spread of coronavirus. SNC was ready with the quarantine facility immediately fulfilling all norms. This is the first time that the civilians are using our facility," he said.
The deportees will now be under the watchful eyes of trained military medical professionals, who will be regularly monitoring their activities and health parameters.
"Our mandate is to ensure the 14 days quarantine period at this base. Later, the deportees would be handed over to Kerala government agencies to facilitate further procedures and transfer to their home stations," Cdr Warrior said.
The 200-bed capacity facility came up in March and before the arrival of deportees it was serving as a transit quarantine camp for naval personnel returning to Kochi for duty after leave.
"It was also used as a quarantine facility for those coming on transfers and back to the base after travel," Cdr Warrior said.
The quarantine facility at SFNA is located at the old Kochi airport terminal inside the SNC. This is among the first military quarantine facilities in India that was set up on a war-footing.
When asked about the reasons why these Indians had to be deported from Bahrain, SNC officials said they weren't aware of such details.
The Bahrain government had recently okayed a plan to deport illegal migrants from the Kingdom since the outbreak of the pandemic. The Council of Representatives (lower house) had last month put forth a proposal to this effect following the increase in COVID-19 cases.
Despite Bahrain government's steps to correct errors in the permit statuses, details available indicate that there are several illegal immigrants still working in the Gulf state.
SNC has been in the forefront of activities supporting Indian Navy's efforts in fighting COVID-19. Through Operation Samudra Setu, so far close 1500 Indians have been repatriated from Maldives.
On Sunday, INS Jalashwa arrived at Kochi with 588 Indian nationals as part of the second phase of Operation Samudra Setu, under the Vande Bharat mission.
This included 70 women and 21 children, hailing from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Lakshadweep.
SNC officials said that another naval asset INS Magar, too part of this mission, is ready to undertake the next evacuation operation when called for.
