By Irfan Mohammed

Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — Heart-rending humanitarian tragedies are coming to fore as the general amnesty for illegal residents to leave the Kingdom without penalties is inching toward its end. Some of these people spent decades in the Kingdom, living illegally out of compulsion by circumstances. They took the risk not just in an attempt to find a better life but to free themselves from the shackles of debt.

A typical case is Mohammed Mustafa Rasheed, an Indian expatriate who lived most of his life in the Kingdom as an illegal resident. He said his wish was to die in the land of the holy mosques, but he finally decided to return home because of his lover for his aging mother.

Rasheed, 59, returned to India on Wednesday after spending 34 long years in Saudi Arabia without going home even once.

Hailing from Kollam in Kerala, Rasheed arrived in the Kingdom in 1983 at the age of 25. Young and unmarried, he was full of dreams about life. He initially worked as a driver and then as a plumber before starting his own business with the support of his Saudi sponsor.

Rasheed borrowed money from people who he knew and trust to invest in the business. However, his business soon ran into losses.

Adding to his woes, his sponsor passed away. A dispute among the sponsor's legal heirs complicated matters for Rasheed. He was not able to renew his iqama and travel documents and became an illegal resident in the country in 1993.

Since then he had been living in the Rawdah area of Riyadh, doing odd jobs in order to repay his loans. All these years he did not send a single penny to his relatives back home.

As his search for greener pastures turned into a nightmare, Rasheed had lost all interest to return to India and wanted to spend the rest of his life in Saudi Arabia itself. He wanted to be buried in the land of the holy mosques.

“I advised Rasheed that dying as an illegal expatriate can pose many difficulties for others after his death,” said Shihab Kottukad, a prominent social worker and recipient of Pravasi Samman Award, the highest honor by the Indian government for its diaspora.

This made him rethink his decision, said Kottukad.

Rasheed's friends also kept reminding him of his sick and aging mother, who did not see her son once in 34 years. They told him that her wish was to die after seeing her son.

Heeding the warning by Kottukad and yielding to persuasion from friends, Rasheed finally decided to go home taking advantage of the general amnesty.

Abdul Kareem, a prominent philanthropist, offered to arrange a pickup van for Rasheed if he decided to return home so that he would not have any trouble making a living in India.

Without a copy of his passport or any other identification document it was not easy to prove his Indian nationality. However, he was issued a travel document by the Indian Embassy in Riyadh after the authorities in Kerala were able to verify his particulars.

Ahmed Koya of City Flower Stores arranged the ticket for Rasheed. Many others came forward to present him gifts and new clothes but he refused to accept them and returned home barehanded.