110 Indian Workers Stuck In Saudi Labour Camp After Company Fired Them Without Giving Due Salaries Or Exit Visas

As many as 110 Indians, including a large number of workers from Tamil Nadu, have been stuck in a labour camp on the Jubail-Damam highway in Saudi Arabia after the construction firm they worked for sacked them without paying them their dues a year ago.

The workers, in desperate circumstances without money, food or decent accommodation, are losing hope because little has come of the Indian embassy's talks with Jubail-based MMG, the company that laid them off.

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The company has not cooperated with Indian diplomats or Saudi authorities to process the papers required for the workers to obtain exit visas, without which they cannot return home.

Speaking to TOI over telephone from the labour camp on Tuesday, S Murugan, from Villipuram, around 170km south of Chennai, said he had sent the last salary he received home to his ailing mother.

"The company has been stonewalling us," he said. "All we want is our pending salaries and to return home. The Tamil Nadu government should prevail upon the Centre so it acts and we are speedily repatriated."

Shamsudheen Chettippadi, a social activist in Saudi Arabia trying to help these men, said their situation is deplorable.

"These men have not been paid and the construction firm they worked for is being uncooperative," Chettippadi said. "These men have suffered long enough. It is time the government deals with the situation with a firm hand and helps them return home."

One of the workers, Subodh Gupta from Uttar Pradesh, said when the workers approached the Indian embassy they were told that the company is not responding to diplomats' efforts to repatriate them.

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"When we go to the company, the officials pass the buck to the Indian embassy," he said. "We've been in limbo for a year now and we have had enough. The company has cheated and harassed us. I don't even want my dues any more. I just want to return home."

MMG in March agreed to settle the dispute following discussions with the Indian embassy and Saudi labour ministry officials.

According to the agreement, the workers could opt for local transfer or exit visas with their salary for October 2014 and 20% of their service benefits. The company said it would pay the remaining salaries and benefits in eight instalments but failed to keep its word.

"Our iqamas [residence permits] have expired and we cannot get exit visas," Senthil Kumar, another worker from Tamil Nadu, said. "The Tamil Nadu government should help us out of this crisis."

Activist Chettippadi said 71 workers had returned to India over the past two weeks on exit permits and with air tickets the Indian Embassy provided. Another batch of 12 workers had returned in August. "A total of 110 workers are still waiting for exit visas," he said.

Diplomats at the Indian embassy in Riyadh were not available for comment.

(Originally published in TOI)