Saudi ‘free passage’ for Indians keen to return

Simran Sodhi

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 3

Minister of State for External Affairs Gen VK Singh today arrived in Saudi Arabia to begin the process of repatriation of Indians stranded there.

He first made a stop at Jeddah and later flew down to capital Riyadh as India tries to get home its citizens. The minister met kingdom’s labour minister Mufrej al-Haqbani to discuss the situation. It is learnt that Saudi Arabia has offered “free passage” to all those wanting to return to India. More than 6,200 of the stranded workers had been employed by construction firm Saudi Oger, said government sources.

Sources said a total of 7,700 Indian workers had been stranded. Of these, 4,072 were staying in worker camps in Riyadh, while 2,153 were in Jeddah.

A team of embassy officials from Riyadh has met with the labour officials in Saudi Arabia to complete procedures related to the protection of legal dues of the workers, once they depart on final exit, they said.

The slowdown in the Saudi economy, which is a direct result of the drop in the oil prices and of a cut in the spending by the government, has resulted in job losses for many immigrants in Saudi Arabia.

The minister’s main job in Riyadh is to try and work out the modalities and logistics of a possible repatriation of those workers who want to return. He is expected to be back in Delhi on Friday. The matter was also raised in both House of the Parliament earlier this week with external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj assuring the members that the government is making all efforts to help the Indians stranded in Saudi Arabia.