- Sunday, February 23, 2025
A massive fire engulfed a multi-storey building in Kuwait housing foreign workers, mostly Indians, early on June 12. At least 49 people were killed while more than 50 were injured.
By: Shubham Ghosh
IN the wake of the Kuwait fire tragedy, Indian opposition parliamentarian Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday (12) called on the government to draft a bill in consultation with all the stakeholders to ensure decent conditions of work and security for the Indian migrant workers.
A massive fire engulfed a multi-storey building in Kuwait housing foreign workers, mostly Indians, early on Wednesday, killing at least 49 people and injuring more than 50 others, according to officials. Forty of those killed were Indians, one report said.
Most deaths were due to smoke inhalation while the residents were sleeping.
A significant number of occupants were evacuated, they added.
Read: Forty Indians killed in Kuwait building fire
Tharoor, an MP from the southern Indian state of Kerala, said the tragedy is a reminder of the terrible privations Indian migrant workers undergo in their efforts to support their families at home.
#WATCH | On Kuwait fire incident, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor says, “I know it’s truly, truly tragic. They had packed about a couple of hundred people into that building and it’s really sad to hear that the fire killed, I believe they initially said 35. Now it looks like 41.… pic.twitter.com/qBMzWlNB7n
— ANI (@ANI) June 12, 2024
“More than five years ago when I chaired the parliamentary standing committee on External Affairs, I requested the Government to prepare an updated Emigration Bill to ensure decent conditions of work and security for our migrant workers. I am shocked that five years later there is still no Bill,” the former minister of state for external affairs said in a post on X.
This tragedy is a reminder of the terrible privations our migrant workers undergo in their efforts to support their families at home. More than five years ago when I chaired the parliamentary standing committee on External Affairs, I requested the Government to prepare an updated… https://t.co/VsCk74urnT
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) June 12, 2024
He urged the government to address this issue at the earliest and draft a “serious bill” in consultation with all stakeholders. “When Indian workers are sent abroad, they must have contractual assurances of decent conditions of life, work, pay & residence before they leave our shores,” Tharoor said.
Earlier, in another post, he said, “Horrified and deeply saddened by the news of a fire in a building housing Indian migrant workers in southern Kuwait earlier today, killing 40 Indians and injuring dozens more.”
“My profound condolences to the families of the victims. Om Shanti,” Tharoor added.
(With PTI inputs)
