RIYADH: Around 600 of the 2,450 unpaid workers in the western province have expressed desire to return home once they get the salary dues from their company.
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman recently directed Labor and Social Development Minister Mufrej Al-Haqabani to address the issue of the Indian workers.
Acting on the royal directive, the ministry decided to allow the workers to transfer the kafala (sponsorship), renew their residence permits (iqamas) and repatriate them if they wish to go back.
Mohammad Noor Rahman Sheikh, consul general, told Arab News from Jeddah that the Indian mission has prepared a list of around 600 names for final exit. However, they will be repatriated only after their salary dues are cleared, he said.
He said the Saudi government has taken serious note of the workers’ plight and immediate action to ensure that all camps where Indian workers are staying are provided with facilities such as food, medicines and sanitation.
V.K. Singh, Indian state minister for external affairs, met the workers in Jeddah and Makkah on Thursday and Friday. Abdullah Al-Olayan, director general of the Labor Ministry (Makkah and Jeddah), accompanied him to the labor camps in the western province.
Sources from the Indian Embassy in Riyadh said that it could not give a definite number of those who want to return home since the workers were not being able to take a firm decision.
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman recently directed Labor and Social Development Minister Mufrej Al-Haqabani to address the issue of the Indian workers.
Acting on the royal directive, the ministry decided to allow the workers to transfer the kafala (sponsorship), renew their residence permits (iqamas) and repatriate them if they wish to go back.
Mohammad Noor Rahman Sheikh, consul general, told Arab News from Jeddah that the Indian mission has prepared a list of around 600 names for final exit. However, they will be repatriated only after their salary dues are cleared, he said.
He said the Saudi government has taken serious note of the workers’ plight and immediate action to ensure that all camps where Indian workers are staying are provided with facilities such as food, medicines and sanitation.
V.K. Singh, Indian state minister for external affairs, met the workers in Jeddah and Makkah on Thursday and Friday. Abdullah Al-Olayan, director general of the Labor Ministry (Makkah and Jeddah), accompanied him to the labor camps in the western province.
Sources from the Indian Embassy in Riyadh said that it could not give a definite number of those who want to return home since the workers were not being able to take a firm decision.
