Amid reports about nearly 800 Indian workers starving for the last three days in the Saudi city of Jeddah after losing their jobs, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj responded on Saturday and dispatched her deputy Gen VK Singh to the Gulf nation to sort out the issue even as the Indian Embassy in Riyadh was asked to provide free ration to the unemployed workers.
Sushma said Indians in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait were facing various problems relating to their work and wage and that the “matters are much worse” in Saudi Arabia. Her other deputy MJ Akbar will take up the issue with Kuwait and Saudi authorities. Both Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are hit due to economic slowdown.
While Sushma is monitoring the situation on an hourly basis, her response came following a tweet by a man who said around 800 Indians are starving for the last three days in Jeddah and sought her intervention.
“We have asked @IndianEmbRiyadh to provide free ration to the unemployed Indian workers in Saudi Arabia,” she tweeted.
“My colleagues @Gen_VKSingh will go to Saudi Arabia to sort out these matters and @MJakbar will take up with Kuwait and Saudi authorities. I assure you that no Indian worker rendered unemployed in Saudi Arabia and will go without food. I am monitoring this on hourly basis,” she said.
Sushma said a large number of Indians have lost their jobs in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and that their employers have not paid wages and closed down their factories.
“As a result our brothers and sisters in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are facing extreme hardship,” she said, adding while the situation in Kuwait is “manageable”, matters are much “worse” in Saudi Arabia.
later, Sushma posted pictures of food being provided to the Indian workers.
Tumbling oil prices have impacted the economy of the Gulf nations, with Saudi Arabia being the most affected.