Kathmandu, 15 March: Minister for Foreign Affairs Balananda Sharma has stated that the government has given high priority to the safety of Nepalis in the Middle East.
During an interview with Onlinekhabar, Minister Sharma mentioned that the safety of Nepalis in war-affected countries has been kept as a top priority. She said that the government has also made necessary preparations for rescue if the war escalates. She informed that preparations are underway under various plans for this purpose and that reporting is being done through the embassies and missions in the respective countries.
He stated that the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Labour, Tourism, and Home Affairs have worked jointly and formed a ‘Task Force’ on that basis. “The Task Force is also assessing how to rescue them if needed,” he said. “During the process of gathering information, we have set up a situation center. We have created portals so that if any worker wants to return to Nepal, they can apply through the portal we have provided. This will also help us know how many Nepalis are there and how many have applied.”
Minister Sharma mentioned that the government is preparing to rescue Nepalis in trouble, even if it means chartering ships if necessary.
“If we have to rescue our citizens from there, we are developing different plans based on the numbers,” Minister Sharma said. “If the number is less than 10,000, we are formulating a plan on how to rescue them using our available airlines and chartered aircraft. Secondly, if the number is between 10,000 and 50,000, we might need to bring them by aircraft and other means because we do not have the capacity to bring that many people by air alone.”
He stated that while any country can assist 10-20 people by air, it is not possible for thousands. He mentioned that plans are being made on how to facilitate travel to seaports if land routes are open.
He informed that embassies and missions have been directed to prepare for rescuing Nepalis by sea—extracting them from war zones and active conflict areas to safer places.
“Whether to bring them to Mumbai in India, to Porbandar, or to Madras, what is the availability of ships, how much will it cost, how much time will it take—we are also working on that,” Minister Sharma said. “If the numbers are even larger, we might have to go by sea itself. For quick rescue, a ship might be slower, but from a war perspective, it is quicker because once they are extracted from the vortex of war to a safe place, taking four days to come home is not a problem.”
He informed that mentalities have been developed to carry out rescue operations according to the numbers—whether they are in Plan A, Plan B, or Plan C—and plans are being made accordingly.
