Parliamentary panel to discuss safety & security of Indians working abroad

In wake of 39 Indian workers' death in Iraq, a parliamentary panel has called a meeting tomorrow to deliberate upon "safety and security of Indian workers in conflict zones".

The parliamentary standing committee on external affairs headed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor will deliberate upon various issues related to Indian migrant workers.

According to the Lok Sabha secretariat, the agenda of the meeting is "issues relating to migrant workers including appropriate legislative framework and skill development initiatives for prospective emigrants with particular emphasis on safety and security of Indian Workers in conflict zones.

The meeting was called after the report of the Indian workers' death in Iraq. The members in the panel feel there is a need to develop a legislative framework to ensure security of Indians working abroad, a source said.

Sources also said that the panel is likely to be briefed by senior officials of the external affairs ministry.

Members of the panel are also likely to raise the issue of Indian workers' death in Iraq during the meeting tomorrow, the source said.

On March 20, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj told Parliament that 39 Indian workers, most of them from Punjab, were killed by the Islamic State in Iraq last year.

Of the 39 people killed, 27 were from Punjab, four from Himachal, two from West Bengal and the remaining were from Bihar.

All the 39 Indians were abducted by the ISIS terror outfit in Mosul in Iraq three years ago.

Swaraj had said it was not immediately known when the Indians were killed, their bodies were recovered from Badosh - a village in northwest of Mosul, and their identities established through DNA testing.