JEDDAH, 8 May 2006 — An Indian minister said here yesterday that the new Saudi labor law was welcome and would prove to be “very helpful” to expatriates. “I appreciate the concern of the Kingdom for foreign workers, which is evident from the changes brought about in its new labor law,” Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi told a news conference at the Jeddah Trident. “It also shows that the Kingdom is very interested in the welfare of labor,” he added.
The minister said that Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah’s visit to India as the guest of honor at the Republic Day parade in New Delhi on Jan. 26 was a “landmark development” in bilateral relations. “In fact, King Abdullah described India as his second home which delighted all Indians. The visit opened up new vistas of friendship and we’re looking forward to many more areas of cooperation,” said Ravi who was accompanied by India’s Ambassador M.O.H. Farook and Consul General Ausaf Sayeed.
Ravi, who earlier visited Bahrain and the UAE, said he was aware of the problems of his countrymen working here. Some of the problems related to labor contracts being not fulfilled and delays in repatriating the bodies of expatriates.
“While the community has to abide by the law of the land, we’ll be suggesting (to the authorities) that unreasonable delays in repatriating the bodies of dead Indians should be avoided,” the minister said.
“A major problem facing our workers is the fraudulent manner in which they are recruited in India, he said, adding that his immediate priority was to streamline the recruitment system and check or prevent fraud.
He emphasized that the problems facing the Indian community here were similar to those in other Gulf countries. “I was aware of them when I was a member of Parliament and now that I am a minister, this gives me an opportunity to address them,” Ravi added.
In his role as a minister he is deeply involved in taking care of the problems of overseas Indians who number about 23 million in 110 countries, he said.
One of the measures that is being proposed is to amend the 1983 Immigration Act to check fraudulent recruitment, he said and mentioned that various measures proposed would also take care of mistreatment of maids that is being complained about in the Gulf.
Asked about the problem of overstayers from among Haj and Umrah pilgrims, the minister emphatically denied that there were any Haj overstayers. “Haj operations are controlled by the federal government and we see to it that there are no overstayers.” However, he said, there was no federal control over Umrah visitors. “Independent tour operators in India have tie-ups with their Saudi counterparts and the government has no role in that,” he pointed out. The minister said the prime minister had already begun addressing the problem of NRI students. “The move is directed toward opening an exclusive university for NRI students,” he added.
Asked about the need to open a consulate in the Eastern Province, the minister said such moves are done on a reciprocal basis. “The Kingdom says that it is looking into it,” the minister added.
