TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY ABDEL HADI HABTOOR Cars drive past a building under construction in the Saudi coastal city of Jeddah on March 16, 2013. Saudi Arabia’s housing crisis will be at the centre of talks at the two-day Jeddah Economic Forum opening on March 17. Saudis, citizens of one of the world’s wealthiest nations, often struggle to afford housing in a crisis spurred by urbanisation and a lack of competition in real estate. AFP PHOTO/KHALED SAAD (Photo credit should read KHALED SAAD/AFP/Getty Images)
Source: Sky News
The Indian government has come to the rescue of more than 10,000 of their starving citizens in Saudi Arabia.
Some 16,000kg of food was distributed on Saturday night by the consulate to penniless workers who’ve lost their jobs and not been paid.
The issue came to light when a man tweeted India’s foreign minister Sushma Swaraj saying around 800 Indians had not eaten for three days in Jeddah, asking her to intervene.
Investigations found that there were thousands starving across Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
Ms Swaraj instructed the consulate to make sure no unemployed worker is to go without food, and is said to have monitored the situation on an hourly basis.
India’s foreign minister Sushma Swaraj has intervened
She tweeted: “Large number of Indians have lost their jobs in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The employers have not paid wages, closed down their factories.
“The number of Indian workers facing food crisis in Saudi Arabia is over ten thousand.”
Many workers in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have been living in inhumane conditions after losing their jobs. Hundreds have been laid off without being paid their wages.
Indian newspapers reported that one firm – the Saudi Oger company – did not pay wages for seven months. Of its 50,000 employees, 4,000 were Indians.
We have asked @IndianEmbRiyadh to provide free ration to the unemployed Indian workers in Saudi Arabia. /4
I assure you that no Indian worker rendered unemployed in Saudi Arabia will go without food. I am monitoring this on hourly basis.
India’s Consul General Mohammad Noor Rehman Sheikh, told a news agency: “For the last seven months these Indian workers of Saudi Oger were not getting their salaries and the company had also stopped providing food to these workers.”
Categories: Asia, India, Middle East, Saudi Arabia, The Muslim Times