Kochi: A raid by the Kuwait Human Resources Committee officials on a private clinic at Maliya in Kuwait City has landed 19 Keralite nurses among 30 Indians in jail last week.
According to relatives of the Malayali nurses, 60 people, including the Indians, were caught during the raid on charges of violation of the foreign residency laws in Kuwait.
According to the Kuwait Home Ministry, the nurses did not have relevant licences or required qualifications to work in Kuwait.
However, the family members of the Keralite nurses claimed that they were qualified and had been working there with proper work visas and sponsorships.
Several of them have been working there for the past three to 10 years in the same clinic. People from Philippines, Egypt and Iran have also been caught by the authorities on similar charges. The hospital is owned by an Iranian national and according to the relatives of the nurses, a dispute between the owner and the sponsor had led to the raid and arrest.
Among the arrested Malayali nurses are five feeding mothers. Jessin is one among them, who has a one-month-old infant daughter, Jeffiamol, at home. Even though the jail authorities have allowed Jessin to breastfeed her daughter at a specified time, it has become a huge problem for the family now. The nurse's husband Bijoy, a native of Adoor in Kerala, has been taking the baby to the jail for the past six days.
According to the family members, Jessin was arrested on the very day she rejoined duty after her maternity leave. Bijoy and Jessin live in a flat at Jollibee with their two daughters.
Kin of the arrested Malayali nurses have sought the intervention of the Union Government and the Indian Embassy for the early release of the nurses.
