Sixty-one workers from various districts of Tamil Nadu, who had gone for a temporary inspection and maintenance work in an oil refinery near Abu Dhabi and were stranded there owing to COVID-19, have made a fervent appeal to the State government and the Union government to bring them back.
They said that their despair deepened following the news that Karthik Sivashanmugam, a co-worker from Tiruchi, who was hospitalised in Abu Dhabi more than two weeks due to COVID-19, died on Wednesday. His body was likely to be buried there by the local authorities, they said.
While most others have not been in contact with the deceased person and none have shown symptoms, all of them are being tested now. “No one has tested positive yet,” a source from the company that engaged the workers said on anonymity.
Vinothkumar Kandasamy, who hails from Papparapatti in Dharmapuri district, said that they went earlier this year to Al-Ruwais, an industrial town around 240 km away from Abu Dhabi, on a 90-day visa, through a multinational company specialising in inspection and certification. “Most of us are mechanical engineers or diploma holders with certifications from the American Petroleum Institute. We are engaged on short-term basis by companies for work in oil refineries,” he said.
Since the lockdown began in Abu Dhabi, the workers have been confined to a camp where they have been accommodated by the company. “It is a large camp with hundreds of people working on different projects. We have been stuck here for more than 40 days now. Our visas have expired,” said Sampath Manavalan, another worker.
While all of them have registered with the Indian embassy there for returning home, there has been no clear communication on when they can travel.
P. Karthikeyan, a worker, said that 15 of them received a communication that they were selected to travel in a flight that left for Chennai on May 8.
“When we contacted the embassy, we were asked to wait for further communication. But the flight left without us,” he said. He said that as per the schedule put out under the Vande Bharat Mission, no more flights from UAE to Tamil Nadu have been planned for now. “We do not know for how long we will be stranded here,” he added.
Mr. Sampath said that they were worried that if something were to happen to them, they were unlikely to get proper medical treatment there. “Our families back home are worried. The company is willing to pay for our tickets if needed. We can pay for quarantine after reaching there. We just want the Tamil Nadu government to arrange a flight,” he said.
A source in the company, speaking on anonymity, said that the firm was doing everything it could to send the workers back. “Their needs are being taken care of properly for now,” he added.
