Saudi Arabia Food Crises
Indian Foreign minister on Sunday reported: More than 10,000 Indian nationals laid off in Saudi Arabia are facing a food crisis.
Indian minister of external affairs, Sushma Swaraj said – a large number of Indians had lost their jobs, which has left them with not enough money to buy food.
Saudi Arabia is suffering from laggard growth with effect to lower oil prices in recent past.
Ms. Swaraj said- “A government minister is traveling to Saudi Arabia, He is expected to help with arrange an airlift of laid-off Indians who are unable to afford the airfare home”.
The embassy in Riyadh was asked to distribute as much food as they could to those in need.
Swaraj said that while there were also reports of Indian workers in Kuwait losing their jobs, the situation in Saudi Arabia was worse. “While the situation in Kuwait is manageable, matters are much worse in Saudi Arabia,” she said in a tweet.
Human Rights Watch has criticised Saudi Arabia for “rampant employer abuses of migrant workers, including forcing them to work against their will or on exploitative terms”.
A visa system that ties workers’ residency to employment “grants employers excessive power over workers and facilitates abuse”, the group said.
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