The NRI sabha has decided to approach Human Rights Organization of the United Nations to secure safe return of Indians stuck in the strife-torn Iraq. “There are more than 10,000 Indians stuck in trouble torn Iraq of which more than 2,000 are Punjabis,” said Sabha president Jasbir Singh Gill.
lambasting at the silence on the issue by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Gill said that Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his government was initiating every sincere effort for the safe return of Punjabis from Iraq but neither the Prime Minister nor External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj took any initiative in this regard but to assure the Chief Minister that all possible would be done.
He said that if the governments of United Kingdom, US and Canada with whom India is working in all cooperation can get their natives evicted from Iraq, then why India was shying to take their help to ensure the return of its people trapped in the Iraq turmoil.
“It is astonishing to note that the government had not yet cracked on the fake travel agents who not only plundered the Punjabi youths but put their life at stake also. Only 121 travel agents are registered in the State where as 2,200 fake travel agents are working and are engaged in luring youths for handsome earnings in the Gulf and other countries,” said Gill.
He said that for the last two days, the telephone bells of the youths stuck in Iraq have stopped ringing following which it had become difficult for the NRI Sabha authorities to contact them to know their current status.