Saudi Arabia’s Nitaqat labour programme has thrown out a mind boggling figure of over 30 lakhs expatriates in Saudi Arabia . Until recently Saudi Arabian officials and media put the Indian expatriate community’s strength in the 20-24 lakh range.
During the seven-month amnesty that ended last month , all illegal workers and expatriates, including from India, were required to sign up with the government and were asked to correct their work and stay status and a series of concessions was granted by the Saudi Arabian government.
Over 15 Lakhs Indians made use of these concessions and got their residency and work status legalised. A p account for over 6 Lakhs workers in Saudi Arabia.
Indians make the largest segment of the expatriate population in Saudi Arabia.According to Hindu newspaper Indian embassy official Sibi George pointed out that during the seven-month amnesty, 4.81 lakh Indian workers had got their professions changed in their documents and 4.35 lakh got their services transferred to other companies. About 4.7 lakh workers got their iqamas and work licences renewed and 1.34 lakh left Saudi Arabia as they did not have the documents to get their stay and work papers legalised.