Nizamabad: In a swift response, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj directed the Indian Embassy in Baghdad on Sunday to help the 500 Telangana youths stranded in Iraq. She advised the embassy to extend all necessary assistance to them for their safe return home.
Alerted by a news report in these columns on Sunday on the plight of these youths, the minister thanked the daily, on her twitter account, for bringing to her notice the plight of these youths. She warned of strong action against travel agents who cheated the youths by sending them to troubled Iraq without valid papers.
The Consulate General of India at Erbil, capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, advised the stranded youths to get in touch with the consulate on 0096475 1740 2100 for assistance.
The Indian Embassy in Iraq meanwhile began an inquiry into the situation in which these youths were stranded in Iraq. The families of the victims are hopeful that the collective efforts of the Union government and the Telangana state government would help the youths return to their homes soon.
Indian organisations working for the welfare of Gulf migrants are also on the alert now and are in consultation with officials and the kin of the migrants.
