Daily News & Analysis

DUBAI, July 10: A united front of Islamic rebels take control of Mogadishu, capital of Somalia. Washington and regional intelligence voice fears that the outfit has ties with Al Qaeda. That put Somalis in all the Arab countries under the scanner. There are hundreds of illegal Somalis in Oman and the military has launched a drive to flush them out.

Caught in the middle also, were Indians who may be illegals, but who are not generally involved in any activity considered hostile to the host country. But the raids net Indians too, and hundreds are now suffering in a desert camp near Muscat.

“The camp is in a place called Iski in the interior, near the town of Niswa, some 150 kms from Muscat,” an Indian embassy official told DNA on the phone. “It is a desert camp and hence it does not have the comfort and facilities of a detention centre elsewhere.”

“Some 3,000 people are housed in the camp and at least 40 per cent may be Indians. The Indians with proper residence documents are let free while others are deported. Indian embassy officials are visiting the camp on a daily basis. They allow the detainees to use their cell phones to contact friends and relatives and also organise their tickets to fly back home. The embassy issues them outpasses after verifying that they are Indian nationals. The military keeps a doctor to look after the sick detainees,” the official said.

The raids were first conducted in the picturesque port city of Salalah in Oman’s southern Dhofar region. “Those raids are now over and the last batch of about ten Indians are given outpasses today to exit the country,” the official said.