"A few of us are 7-8 months pregnant...and a hospital is several kilometres away from where we stay," a woman clearly in the family way speaks to the camera, her veiled eyes conveying desperation. The video is a plea targeted at the Tamil Nadu government for speedy evacuation as resources are turning scarce and help is getting hard to come by.
"Due to corona, we are unable to return to India... There is no proper treatment here. We are not able to get the scans done. The hospitals are far away. If someone goes into labour and delivers right here, there is no one to take care of the baby," said one of the stranded women.
She also added that the group of women were working as nurses in Saudi Arabia before the coronavirus outbreak. In the wake of the pandemic, their lives have come to a standstill.
"I have applied for an exit visa. If I deliver a baby, I can't apply for passport and I can't even return to my hometown. If the exit visa expires, it is very difficult to process a new one. We urge the Tamil Nadu government to arrange an aircraft for us. There are many Tamilians like us who are stranded here," said another pregnant woman.
Over 500 Tamil people are stuck in different parts of Saudi Arabia.
Just like the women, another group of 150 people from the state had entered the Gulf country to work at an oil refinery in Jeddah on a three-month work permit visa. With their visas expired and little money left, these workers are turning desperate.
With folded hands, the group of men sent out a plea to Tamil Nadu chief minister EK Palaniswami for a rescue operation: "So far, we have borne the expenses including stay and food. We don't have any more money. We haven't been working for over a month. We don't have any money left now. We have self-isolated and none of us have contracted the virus."
Several parts of urbanised India have been witnessing migrant workers trying to make their way back to their hometowns. In Tamil Nadu, thousands of them will board trains this week. With the travails of interstate migrants just getting into the limelight, the tribulations of Indian migrants stuck abroad are still shrouded in darkness.
Indian migrants working abroad did get an option to fly down from Dubai, Saudi Arabia, but the passengers (359 of them to Chennai in two planes) had to foot the costs of travel. With scant savings left, the stranded ones have little choice but to send out messages for help.
(With inputs from J Maheswaran)
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