AIZAWL: Mizoram Police rescued and repatriated three Mizo women, who engaged as housemaids and were stranded in Syria for about 20 months.
A senior police officer said, the three women had left Mizoram in 2022 and began to face hardships soon after they landed in Syria in November that year.
After intense efforts by Mizoram police and Indian embassy authorities and fulfilling all legal formalities, the three women left Syria on August 20 and were safely brought back home on Saturday, the officer said.
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Two of the women hailed from the Hnahthial district, while the other one belonged to the Champhai district, he said.
The three women were illegally sent to Syria by a private placement agency in November to be engaged as housemaids, he said.
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Soon after they reached Syria on November 6, 2022, the three Mizo housemaids began to face issues from their employers, who challenged them in the Syrian courts, the officer said.
Chief Minister Lalduhoma and Home Minister K Sapdanga took the issue very seriously and with their direction initiatives have been taken to rescue and repatriate the three Mizo women from Syria since May, he said.
During the process, the state government was in constant touch with the Indian embassy and Syrian authorities.
After legal cases were won, the Indian embassy in Damascus gave shelter to the three women for three weeks and when exit visas were issued, they were brought to New Delhi on August 20 and then to Aizawl on Saturday (August 24), the police officer said.
They will be sent to their native villages and be united with their families within this week, he added.