Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis Pir Syed Sadaruddin Shah Rashidi praised the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) for the steps it has taken to address the issues of retrenched Pakistani workers.
The visiting minister urged the Pakistani workers to try for transfer of sponsorship in the kingdom while pursuing their salary and other dues from their previous companies.
He insisted that they should stay back and fight for their dues, “although they have the option of returning home.”
He reiterated, “Stay back and try to retrieve your compensation from the company, get the contract transferred to another firm, and exit the country and assign someone to follow your case with the company.”
Rashidi said he had a detailed meeting with Saudi Labour Minister Mufrej Al-Haqbani in Riyadh and discussed the issue of stranded Pakistani workers. He visited camps in Riyadh, Dammam and Jeddah. Pakistani Ambassador Manzoor ul Haq also joined the minister for the meetings.
Abdullah Al-Olayan, director general of the Ministry of Labour and Social Development branch in Makkah, along with several other Saudi officials accompanied the minister in Jeddah camps, where some 500 people are living.
Rashidi also attended a meeting with Health Minister Tawfiq Al-Rabiah who, according to the minister, has directed the hospitals to ensure medical care to those living in the camps.
Meanwhile, the Saudi Labour and Social Development Minister said that several local firms, including Saudi Binladin Group have now started paying overdue wages.
The group’s executives have promised that the payments would be completed by September, he said.
The minister said that Saudi Oger is the only company still broadly withholding payments, and the Ministry will press foreigners’ wage claims through the kingdom’s labour dispute system.
Thousands of jobless Pakistanis, Indians, and Filipinos are stranded and destitute in the kingdom after a plunge in oil prices sparked construction layoffs.
