EXCLUSIVE: Indians stranded in Saudi Arabia long to come back

Arun Krishnan, who is stuck in his hotel room in Riyadh, spends his time looking at the screen. All he wants is to come back home. Each time he refreshes his screen, it brings a fresh bout of hopelessness.

“More countries are allowing citizens to come back home,” says Krishnan, who had gone to Saudi Arabia in January for a project. Ever since, he had been stuck there, Krishnan has reached out to the Embassy in Riyadh only to be told to wait for updates.

“I have written to the minister of external affairs,” he says. “I have also written to the members of Parliament, asking for help. The external affairs minister directed us back to the Embassy.”

More than a month later, Krishnan is desperate. The lockdown seems endless. He is just one in over a 100 Indians in Saudi Arabia who want to come back home. In an effort to reach out, Krishnan started a WhatsApp group—which now has 111 members, all longing to come home.

From Andhra Pradesh, Shaheer Pasha, who works as a cook, has been away from his family for over a year. His salary has now been halved. But he is amongst the luckier ones. “My friend, who is also a cook and shares my room, hasn’t been paid for over a month,” he says. Beyond Riyadh, in Amman, four boys from his village have not been paid in four months. “They eat one meal a day,” Pasha says.

A majority of those who reached out to Krishnan are blue-collared workers. Many of them have work visas that are due to expire; many are without work and with no money. “There is a certain step-motherly treatment that the government is giving to workers from here,” Krishnan says. “If there was an appeal from the UK, they rush in to respond. These men are the ones who give more in remittances.”

In an appeal, those who are stranded here write that they will all be happy to be tested for COVID-19, and will be willing to be quarantined for two weeks after they come back. Those who can afford it are also willing to pay for their seats.

Aamir (name changed), from Rajasthan, has been working in Saudi Arabia for three years. His parents came to visit him in January and haven’t been able to leave ever since. “My father has had a heart bypass. He is diabetic and has high blood pressure. We have run out of his medicines,” he says. “We can’t find an equivalent here.” Aamir has reached out to the Indian Embassy, and called the volunteer helpline. They have promised him medicines. “But I can’t to get them, because there is a curfew and I have to get a pass.”

Aamir has another worry. His wife is seven months pregnant. “I want her to go back home,” he says.