India in talks to bring home workers stranded in Saudi

Indiasaid Monday it is negotiating with authorities in Saudi Arabia to repatriatethousands of migrant workers after they lost their jobs, leaving them destituteand with no money to return home.

Foreign minister Sushma Swaraj told parliament she wassending a junior minister to Riyadh after reports that around 10,000 workershad lost their jobs and been left to starve.

Indians are among millions of poor Asians working in the Gulf states, where humanrights groups say many suffer exploitation and abuses including non-payment ofwages, with no channels for redress.

Many of the companies employing them have suffered from thedrop in oil revenues from falling prices, prompting a downturn in constructionand layoffs.

The Indian consulate in Jeddah has been providing free foodfor its nationals since their plight came to light last week, but Swaraj saidthe situation could not be allowed to continue.

"This can't be a permanent solution, we will have tobring them back," Swaraj told the lower house of the parliament Monday.

However that is being hampered by a Saudi requirement thatworkers provide a no-objection certificate from their employers before they canleave the country, she said.

Junior minister V.K. Singh will travel to Riyadh on Tuesday to try to sort thesituation out, she said.

Among those stranded are some 2,450 workers laid off bySaudi Oger, the once-mighty construction giant led by Lebanon's billionaireformer prime minister Saad Hariri.

"No jobless Indian will sleep hungry. If they want tocome back home, the government will ensure their safe return...we have acollective responsibility towards our citizens," Swaraj said.

Nearly three million Indians live and work in Saudi Arabia, according to the foreign ministry,one of the largest populations outside of India.

In November 2014, Gulf and Asian labour ministers agreed ona series of initiatives aimed at boosting protection and improving conditionsof employment for foreign workers in the Gulf.