JEDDAH — Some 25 Indian workers pleading to go home for the past six months are caught in bureaucratic formalities because their sponsor has not paid the Ministry of Labor SR90,000 in fines for labor regulation violations. Their sponsor — the Dammam-based Sejong Saudi (Korean) Contracting Construction Company — brought a total of 62 workers from India last February, but could not provide them iqamas (residence permits) because it was in the red Nitaqat zone. The sponsor sublet these workers to a construction company in Jeddah. But the project for which they were sent to Jeddah stopped some time in July. Ever since these workers are without job. They cannot work anywhere else or even go out of their squalid labor camp in Raheli on the outskirts of Jeddah because they do not have iqamas. Recently two of these workers went to Madinah and were detained. The Indian Consulate intervened to get their release and bring them back to Jeddah. These workers lodged a complaint with the labor court some five months ago, which resulted in the final exit of seven of their coworkers. After that, their handlers in Jeddah sent home another group of 30 workers. The Indian Consulate in Jeddah is providing food every day to the remaining 25 workers. Recently the electricity of their camp was disconnected. After several complaints, their handlers brought a generator which ran for only two hours a day. “We have spent SR40,000 on food for these workers so far. If I have my way I will send them home tomorrow. But the sponsor's help is needed,” Indian Consul General B.S. Mubarak told Saudi Gazette.
