SAUDI ARABIA

Runaway worker prevented from returning home at last minute

July 23, 2017

Irfan Mohammed

Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — With only three days left of the four-month amnesty period for undocumented foreigners to leave the Kingdom without penalties, many illegal expatriates have failed to avail of the opportunity despite their best efforts.

An Indian worker has been desperately seeking help to find the resolution of a case against him, which he claims was fabricated, prior to the end of the amnesty period.

Madhusudhan Dasari was eager to avail of the amnesty announced by the Interior Ministry as part of its Nation Without Illegal Expats campaign to leave the Kingdom, but he was shocked when he found out that his former employer blocked his exit at the last moment.

Dasari, who was reported a runaway (huroob) case by the employer, was able to endorse his return procedures at the passport office. He purchased the ticket and went to airport to board his flight home. However, the passport control officers turned him back at the airport saying he was not allowed to leave the Kingdom because his employer had filed a fresh case against him.

Dasari, a computer science graduate from India, came to work as a family driver in Hail because of his financial situation back home. He absconded after some time due to job-related disputes with the employer.

“I came to work but circumstances forced me to run away and tried to find any job to repay the loans that I had taken to facilitate his Saudi placement. But the job market was grim even for menial jobs,” he told Saudi Gazette.

“I was overjoyed when I came to know about the three-month grace period for illegal expatriates to leave the Kingdom. I approached the embassy and obtained emergency certificate – a one-way travel pass — and completed the exit procedures without any hassle on April 10,” he said.

Dasari said after finalizing the exit procedure he had purchased an air ticket to travel to India and went to the airport the following day but he was prevented from leaving.

“I was told a car theft case was registered against me 24 hours ago by my sponsor. This was fabricated by him after I had completed the exit procedure,” he said.

Dasari alleged that the case was framed against him 11 months after he had left the employer and within 24 hours of him completing the exit procedure, apparently after receiving an SMS alert from the Passport Department.

He said he had lost the money he had spent to purchase the air ticket and was struggling now even for food.

“I am innocent, I didn’t steal any car or anything else from my employer even though I had run away from him,” said Dasari. “Besides the language barrier, I have no ne in Hail to help me,” he added.

He said he had been contacting Indian embassy officials but they were not in a position to help due to the nature of the case.

Attempts by Saudi Gazette to contact Dasari's former employer did not succeed.


July 23, 2017
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