Member of Parliament and MDMK general secretary Vaiko has appealed to the Minister of External Affairs Jaishankar to take immediate steps to ensure the early and safe return of 106 labourers including 102 workers from Tamil Nadu, who are stranded in Kuwait after their employer did not give them salary for four months and also failed to renew their visas.
In a letter to the Minister, Mr. Vaiko said he had received SOS from 106 employees of a Kuwait-based construction company, who were stranded in a dingy room in the Middle East country after the employer refused to give them their salary and renew their work permit and visas. Since they were not paid their salary since June last even as their visas had expired, they could not move out of the place where they had been forcibly confined.
“When we forwarded a letter to the Indian Embassy in Kuwait, the officials there asked us not to come to the Embassy in person in the wake of COVID-19 and hence we sent an e-mail explaining our ordeals. However, no action has been taken by the Indian Embassy officials to rescue us,” says a stranded worker in a video posted on social media.
Hence, Mr. Vaiko, who has also forwarded this video to the External Affairs Minister, has appealed to Mr. Jaishankar to take immediate steps through the Indian Embassy in Kuwait to rescue the stranded workers, mostly from Tamil Nadu, and make efforts to get their salary arrears.
“Moreover, they have not been given their annual incentives as assured by the employer. Since the aged workers and those who are suffering from various ailments such as diabetes, hypertension etc. do not have access to medicines, kindly take immediate action to rescue them safely and at the earliest,” Mr. Vaiko appealed.
