Govt Must Bring Back Workers Stranded in Middle East: Rahul Gandhi

The former Congress president said flights should be organised to bring the workers back home.

Rahul Gandhi. 

(Photo: PTI)

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter to urge the government to bring back Indian workers who are stranded in the Middle East due to the nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus. He said that thousands of them are out of work and the Centre should take immediate measures to get them home and put them in mandatory quarantine.

“The COVID-19 crisis and shutting of businesses in the Middle East have left thousands of Indian workers in deep distress and desperate to return home. The government must organise flights to bring home our brothers and sisters most in need of assistance, with quarantine plans in place,” Rahul tweeted.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) informed the Supreme Court on Monday, 13 April, that there are 13 million Indians, including NRIs and students, stranded abroad and the government is trying to minimise the risk posed by arrivals from other countries that are affected by coronavirus.

The government has appealed to Indian nationals to stay where they are. In the UK, there are about 400,000 Indian nationals, including about 50,000 students. The UK government has now extended visas till 31 May and has issued necessary guidelines.

However, the MEA told the SC that given the limited availability of resources, it is not feasible to selectively evacuate Indian citizens from abroad.

Earlier, Rahul Gandhi criticised the Centre for what he said was a delay on its part in the purchase of testing kits for COVID-19 and said the country is “now critically short of them”.

(With inputs from IANS)