NEW DELHI, 31 July 2003 — India said yesterday 158 Indians went missing in the Gulf region last year and efforts were being made to find them. Junior Foreign Minister Digvijay Singh told Parliament that 164 Indians went “missing” in 2001 and 130 in 2000. There are approximately three million Indians in the Gulf countries, most of whom went there to find work. “The Indian workers reported to be missing in the Gulf countries are those who have failed to maintain contact with their families or those who have moved from one employer to another clandestinely,” the minister said.
