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This story is from December 9, 2016

'I'm left with no money...I just want to return home,' Indian worker's tearful plea to government

A video plea by an Indian man Suryabhan Vishwakarma, for repatriation to India, has once again prompted discussion about the issue of the working conditions for migrants in Gulf countries. He was hired for building construction in Saudi Arabia by a recruitment agency in India.
'I'm left with no money...I just want to return home,' Indian worker's tearful plea to government
Suryabhan Vishwakarma (Video grab)
Key Highlights
  • Suryabhan Vishwakarma was hired for building construction in Saudi Arabia by a recruitment agency in India.
  • After the activist posted the video to social media, Vishwakarma's tearful plea was viewed more than one million times.
NEW DELHI: A video plea by an Indian man, for repatriation to India, has once again prompted discussion about the issue of the working conditions for migrants in Gulf countries.
Suryabhan Vishwakarma was hired for building construction in Saudi Arabia by a recruitment agency in India. But now over a month, he claims he has been denied leave to visit his home in India, and also the company is not paying him on time.
In the one-and half-minute video, Vishwakarma claims that he was promised "Rs 1,500 salary (presumely Dirham) and 4 hours overtime in a limited company" but was forced to work as a construction labourer.

"...I closed down my shop to work in a limited company but they have placed me construction line. Here, we face issues not only for salary but also for food," Vishwakarma claimed while appealing for help from the Indian government.
"In last one-and-half month, I have just got 250...I've left with no money...I just want to go back to India," he claimed.
After the activist posted it to social media, Vishwakarma's tearful plea for help was viewed more than one million times.

Under Saudi law, foreign workers can't leave the country without the permission of their employers - just one element of the Gulf system of kafala, which limits the rights of foreign workers.

Several recent cases - including the story of a domestic worker who had her arm chopped off - have prompted debate about working conditions for migrant workers in the Gulf.
Meanwhile, the minister for external affairs Sushma Swaraj has claimed to have brought back the Indian expatriate Jagannathan Selvaraj from Dubai who walked a total of over 1,000 km for over two years to attend court proceedings in a bid to return home.
In July, this year, as many as 10,000 Indians who were on the brink of starvation in Saudi Arabia, after being laid off, finally got some relief after the Indian consulate and community there pitched in to distribute almost 16,000 kilograms of food to them, minister Sushma Swaraj had tweeted.

Muhammad Zulqarnain Zulfi is an alumnus of Amity University and Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University. He writes on Politics, Defence, Crime, Business, Technology, and Sports. When not writing, he can be found travelling or engrossed in a book.

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