Eventually on Sunday, the CGI declared that the food distribution mission had been completed.
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Over 10,000 starving Indian workers in Saudi Arabia have received 16,000kg of food from their own government, which was distributed in front of the India’s consulate in the port city of Jeddah.
Sushma Swaraj, India’s Minister of External Affairs, said that a large number Indians in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait had lost their jobs, and were owed wages by their employers.
“My colleague @Gen_VKSingh is reaching Saudi Arabia to sort out all such matters”, she stated.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has appealed to 30 lakh Indians in this country to help their “fellow brothers and sisters”, asserting that there is nothing “mightier” than the collective will of the Indian nation.
Saudi Arabia has seen its economic growth slow recently, weighed down by lower oil prices.
Saudi Arabia was followed by UAE which reported 1,540 deaths in 2015, Minister of State for External Affairs V.K. Singh said while replying to a written question in Lok Sabha.
In such a grim situation, the Indian government is supporting its people by making sure that they get free food items.
“The number of Indian workers facing food crisis in Saudi Arabia is over ten thousand”, Swaraj said in a tweet.
Akbar, it is learnt, has also sought Saudi assistance in arranging exit visas for all Indian workers who wish to be repatriated.
Following up on the matter, Swaraj asked the Indian consulate to not let any unemployed person starve and further monitor the situation.
The workers are mostly employed by Saudi construction companies. “We have asked the foreign office to authorise us to bring them from Saudi Arabia”, she said.
Indians are among millions of poor Asians working in the Gulf states where human rights groups say many suffer exploitation and abuses including non-payment of wages, with no channels for redress.
“Necessary assistance continues to be provided to our distressed citizens with the heartening support of Indian community in Saudi Arabia”, he said in a series of tweets.
The government has announced that it will be evacuating all the workers that are stuck there and bring them back home.
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India says it has chose to bring home 10,000 expatriates dying of starvation in Saudi Arabia which has laid off many foreign workers amid its worsening economic problems. Junior Foreign Minister VK Singh will be traveling to Saudi Arabia to kick-start the repatriation process.
