India plans to bring back some 10,000 of its
workers who were rendered jobless in Saudi Arabia, Foreign Minister, Sushma
Swaraj said on Monday.
The government was arranging exit documents
for those who wanted to return but could not pay for the flights, she told the
parliament.
The workers were laid off by Saudi
construction companies after the slowdown in the industry due to the fall in
global crude oil prices.
"We cannot leave our workers in a
crisis.
``I contacted the Saudi foreign office and
labour office, we have asked their foreign office to authorise us to bring them
back from Saudi Arabia," Swaraj said.
She also said the Indian Government would
ensure that the workers who have not been paid - in many cases for as long as
eight months get their dues.
Junior foreign minister VK Singh will travel
to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to meet with officials there.
Swaraj also said that all Indians who live in
five worker complexes or camps in and around the city of Jeddah were provided
with food rations by the Indian government for the next week.
About 70 per cent of the 3 million expatriate
Indians in Saudi Arabia are blue-collar workers, mainly employed in the
construction, oil and infrastructure sectors.
Some Indian media reported that the Saudi
government was investigating complaints of companies not paying wages and will
order them to do so by imposing fines and penalties.
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