
With prolonged slump in the price of crude oil taking its toll on Middle Eastern economies, large numbers of migrant workers in the region have suffered layoffs and delayed payments. The situation has reached levels where the governments of their countries of origin, such as India and the Philippines, have had to step in in order to resolve the crisis.
On July 30, India's foreign minister Sushma Swaraj wrote on Twitter that more than 10,000 Indians in Saudi Arabia are going through a "food crisis."