Indians From Libya: Chandy and Sushma Sparred but Neither Helped

The first batch of 18 Keralites arrived at Kochi International Airport on Thursday.

The first batch of 18 Keralites, evacuated from Libya, uniting with their families and relatives on their arrival at Kochi International Airport on Thursday. (Photo: PTI)

Joseph Chacko, his wife Simi Jose and his two children came back to Kerala from strife-torn Libya on Thursday morning. While the Centre and the state government is busy vying for credit for their safe return, the people who have returned from the harrowing experience have a different tale to tell.

While Kerala CM Oommen Chandy said that the centre had not helped Indians in Libya, Sushma Swaraj retaliated saying the Centre had paved the way for many evacuations.

Neither Centre nor the state government helped my brother and his family while they were in Libya, The Indian Embassy’s behaviour was very bad towards the people who were stuck there. They said they could not take responsibility for the situation and did not help them with their salary matter also.

Baby, Joseph Chacko’s brother

The hospital that Joseph and the others were working for used to transfer their salaries to the bank and when they approached the bank to withdraw their salaries the bank said they did not have enough funds to let them retrieve three years’ salary.

According to Baby, a Libyan military official was the only person who helped. He let them stay in his apartment and provided them with food and other essentials.

The condition in the apartment was very bad. There was no electricity, food or water. The Libyan military official provided them with food. 

Thomas and Lisy Thomas, another couple who escaped from Libya, also had similar complaints regarding the Indian government and the Embassy.

If the Indian Embassy had contacted the Libyan government earlier we could have reached home sooner, We travelled on our own personal risk.

Thomas

When we approached Chief Minister Oommen Chandy he said he will help with paying for the tickets for those stranded in Libya, but as of now we haven’t received even a single penny.

Baby, Joseph Chacko’s brother

The first batch of 18 Keralites, evacuated from Libya, uniting with their families and relatives on their arrival at Kochi International Airport on Thursday.

Also Read: Indians Stranded in Strife-Torn Libya Finally Return Home

(This article has been published in collaboration with The News Minute.)