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The recent gesture by the external affairs ministry to provide food aid to some 10,000 Indian nationals stranded without jobs or money in Saudi Arabia and its decision to evacuate them will come as a temporary relief to the thousands stranded in the desert country. The fall in global oil prices and the policy changes in the Gulf countries are affecting the prospects of the expatriate population in these countries. To tide over the resulting economic crisis, the Gulf countries are now resorting to mass lay-offs, massive spending cuts and an unprecedented austerity drive. Oil refineries, banks, shipping firms, and construction companies have already resorted to layoffs of foreign workers, especially the unskilled and semi-skilled ones. Many construction companies have already closed their operation in the Gulf region.
