The Indian Embassy has rejected allegations about the disappearance of an Indian worker as “baseless and unfounded,” and claimed that the organization which leveled the accusations had done so only because the embassy was inquiring into its alleged illegal activities.

“The embassy rejects the baseless allegations by an illegal paper organization,” Surinder Bhagat, spokesperson of the Indian Embassy said. “The embassy values the life of every Indian living in Saudi Arabia.”

The Federation of Kerala Associations in Saudi Arabia (FOKASA) had earlier alleged that although the embassy reacted immediately to the incident, it did nothing to follow up on the mysterious disappearance of Hamza Beleri, an Indian worker, 14 years ago.

Reacting to the allegations, Bhagat said: “The embassy is currently conducting an inquiry into the activities of this illegal organization and its members including their involvement in the illegal collection of funds from Saudi Arabia.

“We are also looking into collections made by the organization by offering legal assistance to Indians in distress, involvement in illegal activities related to Indian housemaids in the Kingdom and involvement in obtaining double passports. To divert attention (away from it), the organization is spreading rumors,” he said.

“The report planted by the illegal organization, while acknowledging the action taken by the embassy on the issue, places the blame on the departments and agencies of the government of India and the Saudi authorities for not tracing the Indian national who went missing along with his Saudi sponsor. The embassy will continue with its efforts to help all Indians in distress,” he said.




The embassy said that for almost a year, it has been working closely with the community to take advantage of the amnesty announced by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, which ended on Nov 3.

“It is only natural that when we have a population of 2.8 million Indian expats living in the Kingdom, there will always be some people who face problems. The embassy will continue its efforts to help them. They are Indian citizens and the embassy will do all it can to help them within the rules and regulations applicable to a diplomatic mission in a foreign country and keeping the broader picture of our strategic partnership with this friendly country in view,” the statement said.

It said that more about 1.4 million Indians had benefited from the concessions announced during the grace period.

“The embassy is currently in the final stages of entering into a labor agreement with Saudi Arabia for domestic service workers which would further help streamline the recruitment process and make the relationship between the employers and employees rule based. This would benefit a large number of Indian workers in Saudi Arabia,” the statement said.

“This agreement is the first step toward a comprehensive agreement on labor cooperation between India and Saudi Arabia,” it said.