Kerala: Ticket delay gives nurse shock of her life

Thiruvananthapuram: A woman from Alappuzha, who  was selected as a  staff nurse  in Saudi Arabia, had a harrowing time for three days at the Riyadh airport where  she was detained  due to the oversight of the hospital authorities.  K.S. Sreeba, who was working at a private clinic in Alappuzha,  had secured a job  in the Saudi German Hospital in Riyadh through a selection process conducted by the NORKA-Roots in October 2015. She was issued a visa on August 2 this year,  which  was valid for  90 days, and her ticket was booked  for the late night flight of November 1.

But by the time  she landed at  Riyadh airport in the early hours of  November 2, her visa had expired. Sreeba, who was flying for the first time, that too alone, had the shock of her life  when she was stopped by the immigration authorities at the airport and detained.   She, however,  managed   to get in touch with a voluntary organisation associated with NORKA-Roots as well as NORKA-Roots former consultant B. Vivek. They provided her food and also arranged  her  return flight on November 4.

“It was a harrowing experience to be held up in a different country,” she told DC. NORKA secretary Usha Titus told DC that NORKA-Roots would  meet the expenditure for her return journey and  also request the hospital authorities to re-issue a visa to  her. “I am hopeful of the assurance of NORKA-Roots that they would settle the ticket charges and get me a fresh visa,” Sreeba said. The whole trouble resulted from the delay of the authorities in issuing the  tickets to her, it is learnt.