The Indian Embassy declared, through the Saudi press, that 60,000 Indians are seeking correction of their situation in Saudi Arabia. Moreover, a similar number is suggested to be seeking settlements and departure. This column stated weeks ago that the Ministry of Labor’s campaign, detecting illegal labor, is going to reveal big surprises.
While reading the report, I started asking myself the following:
• How many illegal Indian expats are still there?
• Why did they decide to stay illegally?
• Who can assure us that this is a final number?
• Did the Indian authorities think of the many Saudi cities that do not have an Indian embassy or an Indian official representative?
The Indian expats that sought settlement and correction were mainly in Jeddah and Riyadh. The reason of course is that these two cities have an official presence of Indian diplomatic authorities.
Now, the reader should know that Saudi Arabia is a huge country with more than 50 main cities, not to mention towns and villages. Can any of us imagine the number of Indian expats that may need help? If such awareness is there, what is done, or at least planned, by the Indian embassy to absorb such a conflict?
In my next column, I will be honored if you share some astonishment related to the number of Indian expats, legally resident, and how can this be of criticality for both, Saudis and Indians. A certain community will be stunned!
— The writer is Media Manager, King Saud bin Abdulaziz
University for Health Sciences. Twitter: @abdullahsayel
