The draft rules cover the management, operation and ownership of the funds, specifying for example that they would not be allowed to invest more than 25 percent of their assets outside Saudi Arabia.
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Gen. Singh (Retd) is now in Saudi Arabia to discuss the problems of the Indian workers there and had visited Jeddah and capital Riyadh earlier on Wednesday. The workers’ work permits have also not been renewed, which have added to their worries. In the past, the company has declined to speak publicly about its finances. It is no surprise that the kingdom is the single largest source of remittances for the country with workers sending back $5.9 billion from July 2015-June2016.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today said Saudi Arabia has agreed to grant exit visas to Indian workers, who are struck the country after losing their jobs, and will also provide free passage to them for their return to India.
About 70 per cent of the 3 million expatriate Indians in Saudi Arabia are blue-collar workers, mainly employed in the construction, oil and infrastructure sectors. “The employers have not paid wages (and) closed down their factories”, Swaraj said late on Saturday.
Garry Martinez, the chairman of the Migrante group, which works for the millions of Filipino overseas workers worldwide, said some Filipinos “have nothing to eat and have to go through the garbage for food”. They were provided a proforma on which the requisite information is to be submitted to the embassy.
“Yesterday, we contracted all the providers to provide health, catering, maintenance and everything, and we contracted the airlines to send back anybody who wants to go there upon the approval of the Embassy of India”, Haqbani said, according to a text of the remarks provided by his ministry.
Haqbani’s orders also ease restrictions on workers leaving the kingdom, Okaz quoted ministry official Abdullah al-Alyan as saying.
Migrant workers, who work for Saudi Binladin Group, gather as they ask for a final settlement over salary issue, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia March 29, 2016. Saludo said that while Manila had extended financial aid to them so far, it was not clear how long this could last. The labor problem appeared likely to worsen, he added.
The Saudi Labor Ministry said this week it has fined and suspended the services of construction firm Saudi Oger for not paying its workers’ wages in months.
“What happened is one company made a great and unacceptable mistake”, Al-Haqbani said during a briefing with reporters.
According to the details provided, more than 8000 Pakistanis working in KSA have not been paid salaries for the last several months.
The labourers from India, Pakistan and the Philippines among others are relying on food handouts organised by embassies and charities. “The Saudi king has issued a decree for urgent payment of dues to the workers by Saudi Oger Company and resolve the situation”, the Foreign Office said. They are our strength and pride.
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The Jeddah consulate is distributing emergency food rations to the employees pending efforts to repatriate them.
