'Situation does not warrant immediate evacuation of Nepali workers from war-torn Gulf countries'

Kathmandu, March 11: Minister for Foreign Affairs Balananda Sharma has said there is no situation currently requiring immediate evacuation of Nepali workers from Gulf countries, due to the tension that has surfaced in West Asia.     

At a press conference organized at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs today, Minister Sharma briefed that the intensity of war was gradually coming down and that there was no urgency to immediately rescue the workers excluding those stuck in transits. “According to what we have understood through the concerned embassy, there is currently no situation that requires the immediate evacuation of Nepali citizens. There is no situation that we need to be worried about,” Minister Sharma said, adding, “However, evacuation operations are ongoing in the case of those laying over in transit.”     

The Foreign Minister shared that the Nepal government is preparing to activate the 'Emergency Rescue' team and will be ready for immediate evacuation if a situation arises in the future.     

According to the information received by the Ministry, around 5,000 people have expressed unsafe via the online form.     

Similarly, Foreign Ministry Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai said Nepali people working in war-torn areas are safe so far. One Nepali working in Dubai has died but currently no workers are at risk.     

He informed that 15 workers were slightly injured due to the war shelling, of them 14 have recovered after treatment and returned to work.     

According to him, they have also been collecting data and information on Nepali citizens' conditions through frequent phone contact with the concerned missions daily. “Our workers are safe so far,” he said, “We are rescuing those who want to return Nepal.”     

Likewise, in Bahrain, 2,600 people affected by the war are in shelters, including four Nepalis, according to information shared in the ministry's briefing today.     

At the press conference, Secretary Rai stated that it is also necessary to boost the sense of security for Nepali citizens who have felt unsafe due to the war between Israel, the United States, and Iran for the past 12 days.     

According to the ministry's statistics, currently 1,700,029 Nepali workers are employed in the Gulf countries.(RSS)