• STRANDED IN IRAQ

 

At least seven Nepali workers stranded in Iraq have come in contact with the Embassy of Nepal in Pakistan and want to return home as soon as possible.

 

Ministry of Foreign Affairs today said the stranded Nepalis had approached the Nepali embassy yesterday and sought its help for their safe return home. Of the seven, three had managed to escape an Islamist militants’ attack on their workplace in Tikrit city and had been taking refuge at a local hospital for several days.

 

Four other Nepalis to get in touch with the Nepali mission in Islamabad used to work at a pizza restaurant in Tikrit and had been taking refuge at an unknown location for several days before establishing contact with the embassy staff. 

 

MoFA did not disclose their names or addresses in Nepal, given the sensitivity of the issue. All seven said they had lost contact with their employers and sought government intervention to return home. Some of them don’t even have passport. “The government is working to ensure their safe and early exit from Iraq before sending them home,” said Prakash Subedi, the head of West Asia division at the MoFA. 

 

Four other Nepalis, who were abducted by the Islamist militants before being released on the weekend, are yet to leave Iraq. According to Ambassador of Nepal to Pakistan Bharat Raj Poudyal, who also looks after Iraq, said their employer had assured that they would leave Iraq along with 48 foreign workers, who were taken hostage by the militants, and then released.