New Delhi: 26 laid-off Indian workers return from Saudi Arabia

He said India appreciated the “magnanimous view” taken by the Saudi Arabian Government of granting exit visas expeditiously and agreeing to bear the expenses for the travel of the workers. Saudi Arabia has also set up a crisis management group to address difficulties being faced by the jobless Indian workers while a separate panel has been appointed to look into their claims relating to unpaid wages. Saudi rules restricts foreign workers to leave the country without NoC by the employers.

“The swift action to tackle a localised problem specific only to some companies of Saudi Arabia signifies the deep and abiding relationship that our two countries share. We are confident that this will alleviate the problems faced by workers of all nationalities,” said the MEA Spokesperson. The Spokesperson referred to the difficulties of retrenched workers of Saudi Oger limited and said the first batch of 26 Indian workers were issued exit visas. The workers came by a flight from Jeddah. “From here, respective state governments will be making arrangements for their travel to their home towns,” Swarup said.