The UAE ranks first among the countries employing Indians, the Minister of State for External Affairs, V Muraleedharan, told the Lok Sabha, the lower House of India’s Parliament, yesterday.
The number of Indians currently in the UAE is 3.554 million, he told Dr. Kalanidhi Veeraswamy, Member of Parliament (MP) in answer to a question. The number of Indians in the UAE last year was 3.419 million, according to data presented by the Minister along with his answer to the MP’s question.
The latest figure represents an increase of over 134,000 Indians in one year, making the UAE the most popular destination for Indians seeking overseas employment. Taken together, five Gulf countries are among the top destinations providing employment for Indians. In addition to the UAE, these are Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman, in that order of their numbers.
They have a collective total of 7.932 million Indians, Muraleedharan said. The Indian government has set up Overseas Indian Help Centres in Dubai, Riyadh, Jeddah and Kuala Lumpur to provide guidance and counselling to Indian workers abroad on all matters so that they can be model expatriate residents in the countries where they live. “In addition, there are dedicated Labour Wings in all the Indian diplomatic Missions in the Gulf countries,” the Minister told Parliament.
