Hundreds of Indian nationals are currently stranded in the violence-hit Iraqi province of Najaf, as their employer has retained their passports, global human rights watchdog Amnesty International said Saturday.
"Evidence has emerged which suggests that several hundred Indian nationals may be stranded in Najaf province of Iraq, unable to return home because their employer refuses to return their passports," Amnesty International India said in a statement.
The human rights watchdog, which claimed to have spoken to some of the stranded Indians in Najaf, also said that some of the Indians were "awaiting a response from the Indian Embassy in Baghdad" after they informed about their passport details to the mission.
The Indian government on Friday said one of the 40 Indians kidnapped in Mosul city escaped while the remaining were safe, adding that 46 nurses trapped in the city of Tikrit were also safe.
India on Sunday issued a travel advisory, asking its nationals not to travel to Iraq which is in the middle of civil war between government forces and Sunni insurgents.