Hyderabad: Videos of foreign workers from the Saudi Binladin (SBL) group began floating on social media narrating dire circumstances and appealing for help.
One of Saudi Arabia’s most powerful firms, the Saudi Binladin Group, has laid off 77,000 foreign workers and is expected to lay off 12,000 of 17,000 Saudis working for the firm as engineers, administrators and inspectors, the source said.
The protesting workers rocked Makkah when they torched buses after their salaries have gone unpaid for months.
As per report published in Times of India, a video clip of Zahed Khan from Musheerabad claimed to have been working in the Kingdom for “26-27 years”, says that he lost his job in the company in Makkah four months ago.
Khan further claims that SBL has not paid many of its employees. “Please think about us. People are very worried here. There any many people from Hyderabad here,” he says.
M Bheem Reddy from the Migrants Rights Council said that the videos are authentic.
“We have contacted their families. The issue is that the NRI cell needs to be proactive. These migrants contribute to the growth of the country by remitting large amounts in the form of foreign remittances. Both the state and Centre should make plans for reintegration and resettlement of people who return from the Gulf.”
The company faced unprecedented scrutiny after one of its cranes working on a major expansion of the Grand Mosque in Makkah, toppled in September killing 107 people.