About 1.5 lakh Indian returns from UAE due to eco slowdown

An estimated 1.5 lakh Indian workers have come back home from the United Arab Emirates due to economic crisis and recession, the Lok Sabha was told today.

Replying to a question, Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi informed the House that an estimated 50,000 to 1,50,000 workers have returned to India as result of the delay in execution of projects due to economic slowdown and recession in the UAE.

He said most of the workers have returned to India on leave without pay with the expectation that they would be able to go back to the Gulf country once the situation improves.

Ravi said while Indian Missions in Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar have informed that there has been some job losses in these countries, some Indians have also returned from Malaysia due to economic slowdown.

"Information received from Indian Missions in Afghanistan, Syria, Sudan, Brunei, Libya, Jordan and Lebanon indicate that there is no report of Indians affected by the recession," the Minister said.

Noting that slowdown has affected almost all sections of people in the US, Ravi said, "Indians working in the US are mostly professionals and the extent of job losses by Indians is, therefore, slightly mitigated by their indispensability to their organisation."

Replying to a separate question, Ravi said the Government has already strengthened the Indian embassies in the US and UAE by posting counselors to render assistance to the Indian workers.

"They will be assisted by local Indian professionals in extending legal, medical and financial counselling to the workers in need," he added.