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Genuine workers would be unaffected by new Saudi labour law: Salman Khurshid
Sunday April 14, 2013 03:29:59 PM,
Gyanendra Kumar Keshri,
IANS
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New
Delhi/Berlin: Saudi Arabia's new labour policy will
affect only illegal immigrants and not genuine workers employed in
the Kingdom, India's External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid has
said.
"Genuine workers don't need to worry. It will impact only those
who don't have proper work permit," Khurshid told IANS in the
course of a brief chat in Berlin where this correspondent who had
travelled with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last week.
Khurshid said Indian workers play an important role in Saudi
Arabia's economy and the Kingdom's authorities recognise this.
"Saudi Arabia needs Indian labour. Removal of illegal immigrants
will open the doors for genuine workers," the minister said.
Saudi Arabia recently introduced a new policy called Nitaqat
(classification) that seeks to remove illegal immigrants and boost
employment for locals by reserving 10 percent of jobs for them.
Over 300,000 firms in Saudi Arabia reportedly do not employ any
locals and the Nitaqat policy seeks to deal firmly with this.
Under the new law introduced earlier this year, foreigners are
allowed to only work for their legal sponsors and their spouses
won't be allowed to take up jobs. Also, the expatriates cannot
perform any job other than the one mentioned in their job cards.
These provisions have sparked fears of mass deportation of Indian
expatriates. There are more than two million Indians in Saudi
Arabia and thousands of them do not have proper work permits.
Nearly 4,000 Indian expatriates have already informed the Indian
embassy in Riyadh that they don't have proper work documents.
Khurshid said new Saudi law was not just for Indians and it would
also affect thousands of illegal immigrants from countries like
Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Philippines. "For genuine
workers it will open up opportunities," he said.
Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi and Minister of
State for External Affairs E. Ahamed are scheduled to visit Saudi
Arabia later this month to discuss the matter with the authorities
and find a possible solution.
After meeting Saudi Ambassador to India Saud Mohammed Alsati in
New Delhi Friday, Ravi announced that the Indian government would
provide all assistance to its workers in the Kingdom who do not
have proper documents to return home.
There are 6.5 million Indians in the Gulf, including 2.45 million
in Saudi Arabia. A large number of them are from the southern
state of Kerala.
(Gyanendra Kumar Keshri can be contacted at gyanendra.k@ians.in)
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