Ahead of the November 3 end of the extended grace period of Nitaqat Saudization programme, after which foreign workers without valid visas and residency permits will face arrest and jail, 91 destitute Indians have returned from Saudi Arabia.

They arrived in Kochi from Jeddah on Saturday. Their return was facilitated by a Keralite cultural organisation, Navodhaya Samskarika Samiti, based in Dhammam and funded by many philanthropists and charities.

Of the 91 returnees, 75 were Keralites; the rest were residents of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Bihar. They included women, who had worked in the kingdom as housemaids without documents.

Many of them had been duped by the recruiting agencies and cheated by their Saudi sponsors. Since they had no proper visas, work licences and residence permits, they had been working off and on illegally at very low wages.

Since most of them could not pay for their airfare, a few charities, kind-hearted people and Keralite organisations met their travel costs. Some of them had been in the custody of Saudi institutions for illegal workers.

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