The Kerala Government, on an advisory by the Indian Embassy in Libya, has banned recruitment of Kerala nurses for working in the hospitals in the strife-torn country.

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said on Friday that his government would not allow nurses to leave for Libya because of the risks to their lives. Chandy noted that the Indian Embassy had asked the Kerala Government that since the ongoing civil war in Libya posed a threat to the lives of Indians, nurses should not be allowed to go to that country.

The majority of Indian nurses serving in Libyan hospitals are from Kerala. Recently, the Kerala Government had, with the assistance of the Centre, evacuated scores of nurses from that country. Several others had returned on their own.

While hundreds of more nurses and other paramedical staff are eager to return to Kerala from Libya, there was report that a travel agency had recruited 200 nurses to be sent there shortly. The government, acting promptly, intervened and the police served notice on the recruited nurses. However, many of these recruits had already left and even on Friday, eight nurses, who had come home for the Christmas holiday returned to resume work in Libyan hospitals.

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