Thousands of Indian workers in Saudi Arabia haven’t been paid for months, prompting the Indian government to hand out food to hungry workers.
The Indian government over the weekend stepped in to assist some 10,000 Indian workers, who New Delhi says are without a job, pay and food.
Over the weekend, the Indian consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, set up food-distribution centers near several labor camps where the workers live, and Indian Foreign Minister Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj dispatched two senior officials to address the issue.
“I assure you that no Indian worker rendered unemployed in Saudi Arabia will go without food,” she said on Twitter on Saturday.
Indian officials said New Delhi is working to arrange exit visas for those involved, and that Saudi authorities have assured they will register wage claims against employers.
There are around three million Indian citizens living in Saudi Arabia, which relies on the vast population of low-paid foreign workers for cheap labor in sectors like construction. The poor working conditions for expat laborers in Saudi Arabia and in neighboring Gulf countries have drawn condemnation from rights groups in the past.
Saudi authorities said that they investigate all the complaint they receive about companies who dont pay wages and even force them to pay.
Last year, Saudi Arabia introduced a package of reforms aimed at curbing the abuses of employers, including prohibitions on confiscating the passports of foreign laborers and introducing penalties for companies that fail to pay their salaries on time. But these violations continue, workers say.
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