Hundreds of Indians in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have been rendered jobless and their salaries not paid after factories were shut down. India is arranging for food packets for over 800 of these workers who have been starving for the past three days in Jeddah.
The government has deputed Minister of State for External Affairs V.K. Singh to go to Saudi Arabia to sort out the matter.
"Large number of Indians have lost their jobs in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait," External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted.
"The employers have not paid wages, closed down their factories," she said.
She stated this in response to a tweet from a man who said that over 800 jobless Indians have been starving for three days in Jeddah.
"We have asked the Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia to serve you food in Jeddah," Sushma Swaraj said.
"My colleague @Gen_VKSingh is reaching Saudi Arabia to sort out all such matters," she stated.
She said that while the situation in Kuwait was manageable, matters were much worse in Saudi Arabia.
Minister of State for External Affairs M.J. Akbar would be taking up the issue with the Saudi and Kuwaiti authorities, she stated.
"I assure you that no Indian worker rendered unemployed in Saudi Arabia will go without food," Sushma Swaraj said in another tweet.
"I am monitoring this on hourly basis," she added.
Following this, the man who had tweeted about the situation in Jeddah, again tweeted pictures of Indians queuing up for food.
While Saudi Arabia has over three million expatriate Indians, there are over 800,000 of them in Kuwait.
--IANS
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