Jordan has decided to repatriate around 200 Indian job seekers who entered the country without work visas or permits with the aid of recruiting agencies.
The plight of Indian workers in Jordan came up for discussion during a meeting between Minister of Labour Bassem Salem and Indian Ambassador to Jordan R Dayakar on Thursday.
The two countries also discussed the situation of 42 Indian workers in Jordan's Karak who were laid off from their jobs in February.
"There are a lot of recruiting agencies in India that are illegal, so the problem is not just in Jordan but also in India," the minister said, referring to the case of over 200 Indian workers who entered the Kingdom in 2005 without work visas or permits, The Jordan Times reported.
"The Indian workers in Aqaba have not been employed during their stay in Jordan. We are trying to arrange for their repatriation," Salem said.
Meanwhile, some 60 workers stranded in Amman alleged that they were living in terrible living conditions. The workers, mostly Indians and Nepalese, were recruited as truck drivers for two Jordanian companies through two Indian recruitment agencies. When the drivers arrived in Amman over six months ago they were sent to a subcontracting transportation firm, which arranged for one-month tourist visas, the labour ministry said.