46 Indian nurses freed from ISIS custodyn Iraq reach home, joy appears among family members

       

An emotional and warm welcome awaited the 46 Indian nurses who returned safe, but empty-handed from conflict-battered Iraq on Saturday noon.They were received by a crowd of waiting family members, political leaders and officials at 11.50 am when the special Air-India aircraft from Erbil in Kurdistan landed at Kochi international airport.

     The nurses, who got stranded in Iraq after their hospital at Tikrit was taken control by ISIS on June 12, were moved to Mosul on Thursday against their will. On Friday, the ISIS released them three days after the new regime in Tikrit asked the nurses to move out.

The airport witnessed emotional scenes after the young nurses in their 20′s disembarked the flight. The waiting parents, who were allowed to go the immigration area, shed tears in happiness, hugged their wards, who went to a far-flung country to repay their loans and shoulder the domestic liabilities.

After the speedy immigration clearance at special counters, they came out, trundling small bags and holding a rose flower presented to them by the Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. The nurses were accompanied by their close family members.

The nurses were happy to join their families in Kerala, their faces were writ with shades of despair stemming from denial of salary. Of the 46 nurses, 31 people, who joined the Tikrit teaching hospital in February, this year, were not paid a single rupee. Others, who had been at the hospital since last August, were not paid in the last two months. They had stopped working since June 12, when the hospital was taken control by the ISIS, fighting against the Iraq government.