Plight of Indians stuck in Saudi Arabia highlights Riyadh’s own crisis and indifference

More than 7,000 Indian workers in Saudi Arabia over the past two weeks have suddenly found themselves without a job, wages, food or shelter as the Middle Eastern powerhouse goes through a silent, yet fiscally violent economic crisis. More than 2.5 million Indians live in Saudi, and nearly 7 million in total within the larger Gulf region, and this puts forth an immense challenge for New Delhi in times of crisis. Plans are now afoot to airlift many of these stranded workers who are currently housed in makeshift camps. 

The House of Saud is not used to internal dissent, and for good reasons. For decades, thanks to its immense oil riches, Saudi Arabia has managed to pour in billions of its petro-dollars into social schemes for its people in critical sectors such as education, human resource, health and so on, to keep its population ‘checked’ and in turn maintain their political supremacy. And to construct these social schemes physically, the country of 28 million people has relied heavily on foreign labour, mostly from South Asia. But it is not a one-way street; the millions of Indian workers in the Middle East are also critical to the Indian economy now, as they send billions of dollars in remittances and investments back home every year. 

But the rosy picture of Riyadh’s oil fortunes and power was severely dented about three years ago when global oil prices, after enjoying a long run of being well over $100 per barrel, plummeted. As prices came down to as low as $39 per barrel, rendering immense losses to Riyadh whose entire economy is based on sales of oil, tectonic shifts, both politically and economically, started to appear within the usually reclusive and overtly protected kingdom. The Saud rulers decided that something will need to be done, and quick, before internal strife increases to more serious levels. The House went through several political changes, and tough ideas such as selling stakes in the state’s oil company Saudi Aramco, which till a decade back had a higher valuation than India’s GDP, were floated. 

On May 1, one of Saudi’s biggest private construction companies, the Saudi Binladen Group (yes, run by former Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden’s family), found itself in the midst of a violent mob of foreign workers, which it suddenly had to let go. Reports suggested that the group fired more than 50,000 foreign workers, who in reaction to an uncertain future and months worth of unpaid wages, took to the streets in protest, and even burned buses and public property. Another report suggested that an executive of the company even tried to mow down a group of protesters with his vehicle as he tried to leave his offices. 

Analysts tracking the Saudi economy had foreseen this crisis when the low oil prices became hostage to not market economics, but regional geo-politics being played within the cartel like Vienna-based Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The games of the politics of oil, and the subsequent fight to maintain market share between the OPEC members, came to a head when both Iran and Saudi refused to any production cuts in over-supplied and struggling global finances. Now, as a result, Saudi Arabia and other oil economies have examples of states like Venezuela and Angola that have crashed and burned on their petro-dollars in a matter of years, and what the future holds if risk is not mitigated away from the singular reliance on oil. 

However, even in such a situation, which has affected thousands of labourers who have contributed immensely to Saudi’s economy, the government in Riyadh seems to be little bothered about their fate. The fact that the Indian government in New Delhi was forced to step in to make sure basics such as food and water is provided to its stranded citizens while Riyadh maintained a stony silence, showcases the cultural narrow-mindedness that Saudis harbour when it comes to foreign labourers. This hands-off attitude showcased by Riyadh should be seen as an example, specifically for labourers, who go through many hardships to secure jobs in the country in order to send money back home to their families. 

Rather than sweet-talking Saudi authorities into appraising about the situation, this was the moment when New Delhi should have been a little more stern, and demanded that they at least ensure basic intervention as a country which has good and deep diplomatic, political and economic relations with India. Not to mention the fact that India, along with the likes of China, are going to be critical markets for Riyadh to sell its oil in, as others such as the US near energy self-sufficiency. These are the optics India needs to play on now to bolster its diplomatic might in a region where it is so heavily invested in all aspects, from people to economics.  

But beyond the current crisis in Saudi, there are more pertaining questions for India as well. Both political and economic stability in the Middle East is shaky, with crises such as the war against ISIS in Syria and Iraq and regional and sectarian battles being fought between various interests often creating sudden situations that require Indian nationals to be pulled out to safety. In the recent past, India has conducted many such evacuations from countries such as Yemen, however, questions need to be raised whether a more concrete, rounded policy exists on making sure that Indian citizens in the region are not left completely to the mercy of their own government which sits thousands of miles away while the host countries are able to distance themselves, abating from any responsibility. India has good enough diplomatic capital and global presence with its Gulf partners to drive this point home to them in a crystal clear tone.