Mercy, a trained nurse from Kottayam little knew that she would have to return mid-way leaving her job when she left for Sana’a, the capital of strife-torn Yemen, two years back. She is one among the 110 evacuees who landed in Kochi on Friday night.

Mercy is happy about returning home but is worried about the future.

“We are three sisters. My elder sister is married and younger sister has started doing a small job. I have to take care of my parents. My father is very old and he can’t go out for work. The burden of the family is on me,” says Mercy to The Quint, who was working as a staff nurse in a hospital in Sana’a.

It’s not the financial crisis alone, but also that marriage prospects for these nurses are in jeopardy as they return. “I have to think of the marriage of my younger sister. Also here nobody wants to marry a girl without a job. I have to look for a job soon,” says a worried Mercy.

This is not the story of Mercy alone but of many of the nurses and other workers from Kerala who have to make a choice between a financial crisis and risking their lives.

“I paid off my student loan from the earnings of my job in Saan’a. I’m willing to go back when things become normal. I hope the situation would become normal soon. If I can’t go back I’ve to look for a job in Delhi or Mumbai,” says Mercy.

A total of 664 Indians from Yemen reached India on Friday night. Two Indian Air Force planes carrying 334 people landed in Mumbai after 11 PM and a special Air India flight with 330 Indians reached Kochi airport post-midnight. The total number of evacuees who have been safely brought back from strife-torn Yemen now reaches to 1022.

[with PTI inputs.]