56,700 Indians face deportation from Saudi

As many as 56,700 Indians face deportation from Saudi Arabia in the next one-and-half months and ten officials have been despatched to the kingdom to help the Indian mission prepare emergency certificates for their exit, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said Thursday.

“As of now, 56,700 Indians have registered with the Indian mission for getting exit permits as they have no valid passports or other travel documents,” Khurshid told a group of Urdu editors here.

He said he is leaving on a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia to meet his counterpart Faisal Al Saud and other dignitaries and discuss various bilateral matters including problems of Indian workers due to the “Nitaqat” policy under which all companies are required to provide 10 percent of jobs to Saudi youth.

Khurshid said the 10 officials sent to the kingdom will help the mission to prepare no objection certificates for the Indian workers, adding it is a “cumbersome procedure as we are required to get details of the worker from the district authorities”.