All residents of Himachal stranded in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, are safe. They have been lodged in the Riyadh Deportation Centre and efforts are on to get them released at the earliest.
The Indian Embassy in Riyadh has said all 14 Indians, including 12 from Himachal, were lodged in the centre. The information was shared by director (Gulf), Ministry of External Affairs, RV Prasad, a spokesperson for the government said here today.
Of the 14 stranded, one person — Onkar Chand from Punjab — has been deported while two citizens, Tanuj Kumar and Devender Kumar, from Mandi district have been released with the help of their sponsors.
सऊदी अरब में फंसे हिमाचल के 13 लोगों में से दो लोगों को छोड़ने का सुखद समाचार विदेश मंत्रालय की ओर से आया है बाक़ी सभी लोग भी सुरक्षित बताए जा रहे हैं सभी की रिहाई के लिए विदेश मंत्रालय एवं हमारी प्रदेश सरकार प्रयासरत है।
— Jairam Thakur (@jairamthakurbjp) December 4, 2018
आदरणीय सुषमा जी का आभार।@CMOFFICEHP @SushmaSwaraj @dprhp
A senior embassy officer spoke to these citizens and counselled them. Later, an embassy official also met the remaining Indians on December 2 and confirmed that all were fine.
Officials from the Indian Embassy in Riyadh also met the officials of the deportation centre, seeking their early repatriation to India. The embassy has said it seems all citizens came illegally to Saudi Arabia. The embassy has said it will continue to extend all possible help for their repatriation.
Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur had spoken to Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and requested her to take up the matter with Saudi Arabian authorities for their release.