Indians safe in Kuwait: Ravi

Says settlement on for NRIs

Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi has said that there is nothing to worry about the fate of Indians in Kuwait.

He was speaking to The Hindu after meeting Chief Minister Oommen Chandy in New Delhi on Monday to discuss the undeclared Nitaqat (naturalisation) programme being implemented in Kuwait.

Mr. Ravi said the matter was being settled in favour of over one million Indian expatriates employed in Kuwait.

He had spoken to the Indian Ambassador in that country, and asked him to speak to the Indian expatriates and assure them of their job security.

Mr. Chandy met Union Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed and discussed the Kuwait issue.

Team for Kuwait

Thiruvananthapuram Staff Reporter writes:

A delegation from the State will visit Kuwait later this week to hold discussions with Kuwaiti authorities on the recent deportation of Keralites from the Arab nation.

The delegation, led by Minister for Non-Resident Keralites Affairs K.C. Joseph and including NoRKA-Roots vice-chairman M.A. Yusuf Ali, will meet officials of the Indian Embassy, representatives of Malayali associations and the Kuwaiti authorities on June 9.

The State, which voiced concern over the issue to Union External Affairs Minister Salman Kurshid on Monday, is trying to work out a formula similar to that proposed to Saudi Arabia when the kingdom introduced the Nitaqat rule and to buy time to work out a rehabilitation plan for those who would have to return, Mr. Joseph told The Hindu here.

He said discussions held by Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi with the Kuwaiti Ambassador to India, Sami Mohammed Al-Sulaiman, on Monday had triggered hope that those with valid documents would not face problems.

“We will try to get an assurance that the random deportation that we hear about now will be stopped. We will try to work out some solution to get those without valid documents handed over to the Indian Embassy, after which we can arrange to bring them back on our own instead of being jailed there,” the Minister said.