Dubai: Recruitment scams keep on happening at regular intervals despite vigil by authorities and candidates. Eight Keralite nurses have been duped by recruiters who apparently lured them to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with the promise of high salary. They are now stranded in the Emirate and struggling to make ends meet.
Three of the cheated nurses have been reportedly stranded in Sharjah; while five are in Abu Dhabi. The nurses are residents of Wayanad, Idukki and Ernakulam districts in Kerala.
With no jobs, the nurses in Sharjah are living in a small room and are fighting it difficult to buy food.
The nurses had to hand over close to Rs 2 lakh for visa and other expenses to fly to the Gulf. One of the nurses said that Suresh, a representative of the Dhanu Tours and Travels in Coimbatore, had brought them to the UAE on a visitors’ visa, after taking Rs 1,70,000.
The three nurses had earned the General Nursing and Midwifery (GNM) certificates in Kerala. The nurses, who are from poor families, had to struggle hard to raise this much money. They were promised jobs with a monthly salary of over Rs 1 lakh and other perks.
The nurses arrived in the UAE 10 days ago. They said that a fake interview was held on the next day of their arrival. But since then, they have not been able to make any contact with the recruiters even over phone.
