Trapped by debt, she headed towards Iraq

Trapped by debt, she headed towards Iraq, lured by the assurance made by her agent, that she could make more money than what she could, back here at home. But things didn't work out as she had hoped. The unexpected war that broke out in Iraq made her desperate to save her life first, waiting for the first safe opportunity to head back to Mysore.

Shobha Prabhakaran, resident of Bogadi, is the woman who is now searching for a nurse job in Mysore, after returning from Iraq. Sharing her experiences in Iraq, Shobha said: “The first time when I had been to Iraq was for a brief period in 2012 when returned back the same year. The next time I went to Iraq was in July 2013 and returned on April 20, 2014.”

“Hailing from a poor family, we were reeling under debt and had even sold a house to meet the financial crisis. It was then I decided to fly to Iraq, thinking I could come out of the debt at the earliest. I was employed as a staff nurse and the job lasted only for a few months. But even today I couldn't clear the debt.”

“There is a good demand for staff nurses in Iraq. Most of the patients whom we attended were those with either bullet injuries or injured by explosives. It was on December 26 the situation turned worse, as dozens of missile kept exploding quite near the flats where we stayed. With repeated sounds of gun shots and blasts and disgusted with the mass killings, I decided to return home, she added. When it started appearing on the media, my family members became apprehensive and asked me to return,” she added.

Explaining the horrifying moments of her last visit she said : “Every day I passed in fear during my stay there. While right behind the hospital, the military had its base camp, the militants on the other hand, had took position in the front. The war was going on unabated. We were caught in the cross-fire. We were holed up inside the hospital. Outside sounds of explosions were heard regularly. We were directed to move along the side of wall to protect ourselves from explosions.”
'The Government of Kerala has announced a house, cash and a job for those nurses who have returned back from Iraq. I request our State Government to at least assist me in providing an employment. I have an aged mother to look after and am the only woman from State had been to Iraq,' she requested.