No exact count of Keralites in Saudi Arabia: Minister

Kerala government has so far no information on the exact number of Keralities living in labour camps in Saudi Arabia who had lost their jobs, State Minister for Local Self Government K T Jaleel said today.
Jaleel, who has been deputed by the state cabinet to visit Saudi Arabia to have an on-the-spot assessment of the situation of Keralities in labour camps, said he was planning to leave for Saudi Arabia tomorrow.
There was no clear information on the exact number of Keralities affected by the recent situation in Saudi Arabia, he said.
As per hearsay, there were several Keralities among the 10,000 Indians who had lost jobs, Jaleel told reporters here.

"Our effort will be to visit the labour camps. But, as per information, there are restrictions for visiting labour camps in Saudi Arabia," he said, adding it would be difficult to visit those camps "officialy".
"But, we will try to visit the camps to know the plight of our people," Jaleel said. Local Self government Special secretary V K Baby is also accompanying Jaleel.

As per the present plan, the delegation will visit labour camps in Jeddha, Riyadh and if possible Dammam.
On rehabilitation package for those who return to the state, he said the state government was working on a package.

Jaleel also said they have applied for diplomatic passport. "We also have to get Visa. We expect that we will be able to go to Saudi Arabia tomorrow," he said.