The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also instructed the Pak Embassy to keep pursuing the authorities concerned to ensure food supply and medical facilities to the workers, settle the salaries and outstanding dues as soon as possible, facilitate the workers to travel to their homeland if they opted, besides, facilitating the transfer of work permit of those workers who chose to leave the company.
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In response to the crisis, the Indian embassy is providing food to workers in 20 camps in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam.
According to the breakup given by Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Vikas Swarup, there were 4,072 workers belonging to M/s Saudi Oger in Riyadh in 10 camps nine in Riyadh and one in Damman.
Who want to go back can do so at the expense of Government of Saudi Arabia, they can file claims.
Sources said 3,172 Indian workers in Riyadh have not been paid their salary dues for several months but are getting regular rations.
Workers at one of the camps told CNNMoney that their bosses at Oger stopped showing up to work about seven months ago, and they had heard nothing from the company since.
India and Pakistan estimate that almost 17,000 of their citizens are stranded in Saudi Arabia without visas to return home.
Saudi Arabia’s Okaz daily quoted labour ministry official Abdullah al-Alyan as saying that “immediate and urgent action” was needed to resolve the issues of 2,500 Indian workers from Saudi Oger company.
According to labor group Migrante International, there are close to 11,000 OFWs who are now stranded in Saudi Arabia after they were retrenched by Saudi Arabia-based construction companies because of plummeting oil prices.
This story was first published on CNN.com, “Saudi Arabia offers free food, flights to abandoned Indian workers”. “We will help them out in all possible ways”, said Nawaz Sharif.
Consulate General of India in Jeddah said on its official Twitter feed that it had distributed 15,475kg of food between 31 July and 1 August with help from the Indian community in Saudi Arabia.
Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Saturday that the employers had not paid the workers’ wages and that they now faced a food crisis.
Speaking to IANS, Jaleel said he along with Local Self- Government Department Special secretary V.J. Baby will fly to Saudi Arabia. “Government of India will not have to spend a penny on that”, she said.
The recent fall in oil prices has rendered thousands of Pakistanis, Indians and Filipinos jobless and penniless in Saudi Arabia.
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“Large number of Indians has [sic] lost their jobs in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait”.
