2,200 Indians waiting to leave Iraq: MEA

New Delhi: About 2,200 Indians in non conflict zones in southern Iraq have expressed their desire to leave for home and they will be in India in the next 36 to 48 hours even as 200 others reached here early on Sunday.

As the momentum of evacuation picked up, the facilitation process of transporting Indian nationals from Iraq is focused on the non-conflict zone in southern Iraq, MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said on Sunday.

Four mobile teams of six persons each have been placed in Najaf, Karbala and Basra, apart from Baghdad. They have collected details of those who would like to leave for home.

“Our advice to them is to leave. But if they are facing problems or are staying back because of tickets, the Government of India is ready to provide them. We are also ready to provide assistance in terms of contractual problems. Based on that, our assessment is 2,200 Indian nationals have expressed their desire to leave Iraq,” he said.

Of these, Mr Akbaruddin said, 600 have been provided tickets by the Government through the facilitation process of the Baghdad mission. Six hundred have been paid by their companies.

Another 1,600 were being provided tickets by Government for their return. On Saturday, 170 people were brought and and on Sunday, an Iraqi Airways special flight brought 200 people to Delhi.