THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Opposition leader V D Satheesan on Sunday wrote to Union Minister for Foreign Affairs S Jayasankar seeking steps to repatriate Keralites stuck in strife-torn Kazakhstan.
Spiralling fuel costs have sparked civic discontent in Kazakhstan, leading to violent clashes between people and police. With the riots intensifying over the past few days, internet services were shut down in the country resulting in a nationwide blackout.
“Several Indians, most of them from Kerala, are working in Kazakhstan. There are also many Malayali students there. They are unable to communicate with their relatives back home as communication networks, including the internet, have been shut down,” Satheesan said in the letter. “In these extremely vulnerable circumstances, the Union Ministry of External Affairs should take prompt steps for their safety,” he said.