Remarks by the Cd’A at Dammam Volunteers Core Group Meeting at the Indian International School November 8, 2013 Dear Chairman, Principal and My dear Volunteers, This is our first meeting after the end of grace period that the Custodian of Two Holy Mosques His Majesty King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud announced in April 2013. I begin by thanking His Majesty for the grace period and for the humanitarian approach that the Saudi authorities adopted while implementing the Nitaqat. We had several such meetings with our volunteers here in this conference room during the last seven months in this vibrant city of Eastern Province of the Kingdom. On behalf of our Ambassador I thank each one of you for your support to the Embassy and for your efforts to assist our brothers and sisters in fully utilizing the concessions during the grace period. The meticulousness with which you handled some of the issues reflected a sense of perfection which always inspired us. I recall that each time I visited here, this core group of our volunteers made a PowerPoint presentation on the progress they made on each of the issues that we faced during the grace period. 2. We have got it right so far. We are the community that benefitted most from the concessions announced during the grace period. We can be proud that we used every day of the grace period for the benefit of our community here. The numbers that we have so far are very impressive. During the seven months of grace period, the strength of Indian community in the Kingdom has gone up. Today we are over 2.8 million Indians in Saudi Arabia. The fact that the number of Indians in Saudi Arabia has increased during the grace period shows that our community has benefitted from the grace period and Nitaqat. We have received data from the Saudi authorities thattill end October 2013 more than 1.4 million (14 lakh) Indians have availed the concessions during the grace period. This includes 434667 Indians who transferred their services to other firms, 481233 Indians who changed their jobs/profession and over 470000 Indians who renewed their licenses/job permits. The number of Indians who left on final exit during the grace period is 134281. This includes those who availed the concessions and also others who left the country on completion of their contractual period. For most of them who left for India availing the grace period concessions, their return was a dream come true. For several years, they were trying to return to their homeland. There were several thousand Indians who thought that they could never return to their home land. There were thousands of Indians who tried for several years to return to their home land. During the grace period, they all could return without facing any penal action and with no ban on their return. They can now come back to Saudi Arabia on a new visa tomorrow if they so wish. This is no small achievement for the community. It is important to note that despite the return of these Indians, the total number of Indians in Saudi Arabia has gone up and it continues to grow. This shows that the suggestion of a mass exodus of Indians from Saudi Arabia was incorrect. 3. Before we do a brainstorming session here today on the way forward to help our brothers and sisters who could not avail the concessions of the grace period, let me recall a few facts which would help strengthen our resolve and commitment to help our brothers and sisters. We have several partners in our endeavour: (i) the Saudi authorities who always adopted a humanitarian approach during the grace period and during the implementation of the policy of Nitaqat; (ii) the Indian community which wholeheartedly came forward to utilize the concessions offered during the grace period; (iii) our registered volunteers who worked day in and day out in small groups all across this vast country to help our people; (iv) the Indian community schools in Saudi Arabia which acted as the focal point of our operations, their managing committees, teachers, non-teaching staff and parents and students who helped us generate awareness; and (v) our media both the Saudi media and vernacular Indian media which helped us generate awareness and reported the facts. We also got tremendous support from our concerned Ministries in India and our state governments. Ambassador was in regular correspondence with the Chief Secretaries of almost all our State Governments to expedite verification procedures for several hundred undocumented EC applicants. 4. Well before the authorities of this country announced the grace period and a series of concessions, our Ambassador had taken several steps preparing all of us for the major task ahead. I recall my several visits to Dammam accompanying him as part of our interaction with the community. These interactions helped us to realise the magnitude of the issues involved which he took up with the Saudi authorities at the highest levels. Ambassador also encouraged our community, which is spread all across this vast country which is of 2/3rd the size of India, to transcend sectarian, religious, regional and linguistic barriers and work together to help their brothers and sisters in need. This was a unifying exercise for the Indians in Saudi Arabia, which yielded positive results. 5. Now let us discuss our action plan for the coming weeks and months. Despite our best efforts, there may still be some Indians who could not avail the concessions during the grace period. There are some people who could not avail the concessions due to legal cases against them. It is only natural that when we have a population of 2.8 million, there will always be some people who face problems. The Embassy will continue its efforts to help them. They are our citizens and we will do all that we can do to help them within the rules and regulations applicable to a diplomatic mission in a foreign country. We will work closely with our volunteers and our schools to help all those who need assistance. We will continue to take up their cases with the Saudi authorities regularly. We have maintained our channels of communication with the Saudi Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Labour and Interior at all levels. They are our partners in our efforts to help the large Indian community in Saudi Arabia. We hold regular meetings with the Saudi authorities to discuss new issues pertaining to the community. We have already deployed Arabic knowing officials at tarheels and labour offices. We have already activated our 24x7 helplines at the Embassy. We will continue our e-registration of those who need assistance. Such mails may be sent to the Embassy at email ids [email protected], [email protected] with a copy to [email protected]. Our volunteers may continue to send their suggestions to us on these emails. Our help desk at the VFS Center in Dammam will continue to be operational in coming weeks. I am happy to announce that our School in Dammam will continue to be our focal point in our efforts in the Eastern Province and beyond. I thank the Chairman, Managing Committee, Principal, teachers and non-teaching staff, parents and students for their support. 6. One most important thing that we need to do today is to generate awareness among our brothers in India on the Saudi rules and regulations on recruitment and employment. We need to ensure that our new comers do not violate Saudi rules and regulations and they do not become ‘illegals’ on arrival. We need to intensify our efforts to educate our job aspirants. I understand that many of the new arrivals have approached us seeking assistance for return to India or for assistance at the labour offices. You are helping them at the Tarheels and Labour offices here. Our concerned Ministries and State Governments are putting in efforts to educate the new job aspirants in India that there is no such thing as ‘free visas’ and that one should not work away from their legal employers. It is important to spread the message back home that it is illegal to work away from your legal employer. We have also alerted these job aspirants in India that they would ensure that the companies they would join are not in red or yellow category and are not in violation of Saudi rules on Nitaqat. This generation of awareness is a major task ahead for us. I am in constant touch with our Protector General of Immigrants on the issue. I urge you also to take steps to generate awareness among the new job aspirants. The Agreement on Labour Cooperation that we propose to sign in coming weeks during the visit to India of the Saudi Minister of Labour would help us streamline the recruitment process and protect our workers from middlemen. 7. Saudi Arabia is a growing labour market given the major infrastructure and development programme currently being undertaken all across this country. Major infrastructure projects like the Riyadh metro would require the services of large number of high-end and skilled labourers. This provides an opportunity for Indians, who are law abiding and hardworking. The emphasis that Saudi Arabia today gives for projects in education, health, housing, infrastructure and transportation sectors would create more job opportunities for skilled labour from countries such as India. The Saudi authorities have made it clear that they would need expatriate workers to be partners in their economy, but they need to be present in this country legally and not as illegals. If we can provide value to Saudi economy, we will be welcomed in this country. It has been our assessment that a streamlined and legalised Saudi labour market would be in the interest of our workers, both skilled and unskilled, as it would also curtail the role of unscrupulous middlemen and agents both in India and Saudi Arabia. 8. We will continue our regular engagement with the community to understand the issues and take up each of these issues with the Saudi authorities at high levels, as we did in the past. We will remain engaged with our partners. I urge you to be eyes and ears of the Embassy to bring to our attention any issues that need the attention of the Mission in Riyadh. Please be in constant touch with our officials deployed here and also in Riyadh. My colleague Dr. Md. Aleem is with me here today and will try to address the pending labour issues. Together we will be able to convert our challenges into opportunities. Thank you.
Posted on: Sat, 09 Nov 2013 08:24:49 +0000
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