3,000 from Andhra stranded in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait

Hyderabad, Aug 1: Nearly 3,000 migrants from Andhra Pradesh were among the Indians left jobless and stranded in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

Minister for Non-Resident Indians (NRI) affairs Palle Raghunath Reddy on Monday wrote to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, seeking her intervention and urged her to issue necessary instructions to officials of Indian embassies in those countries to provide food and shelter to the stranded.

He said necessary steps may be initiated to bring them back by providing free travel and necessary visa documents at the earliest.

The minister wrote that due to the crisis in Saudi Arabia, caused by the decline in crude oil prices and the slump in the construction sector, the migrants, in particular the labourers, lost their jobs and were unable to find food and shelter.

Sushma Swaraj had said on Saturday that over 10,000 Indians in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait were facing a "food crisis" because of economic hardships.

IANS