Distressed workers waiting to apply for the Emergency Certificate issued by the Indian Embassy in Riyadh. (SG photos by Shahid Ali Khan)A NUMBER of unskilled menial job workers among several others that arrived in Saudi Arabia on ‘visit visa' along with their sponsors in the Gulf states such as Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain have found the Saudi amnesty a ‘gift period' to go back home. The amnesty ends on March 23. Srinivasulu, 42, an Indian national from the southern state of Andhra Pradesh arrived in the Kingdom along with his Kuwaiti sponsor some three years ago. He is desperate to go home ever since he arrived in Saudi Arabia on a visit visa. The Indian worker alleges that his Kuwaiti sponsor brought him to Hafr Al-Batin to work in an agricultural farm on the pretext that he would offer him employment but not before Srinivasulu received a legal residence status in the Kingdom. “I have no legal status except my passport with a stamp of Saudi visit visa. However, that been expired long time ago. I work for long hours in the farm in Hafr Al-Batin without a monthly salary. I have not been paid for the past 18 months,” Srinivasulu was quoted as saying by Muhammad Javid, a coordinator of the Indian Fraternity Forum (IFF), a Riyadh-based social organization that reaches out to destitute workers. Srinivasulu, a father of three children, is not alone in recounting such harrowing experiences of loneliness and despair. Iqbal Hossain, a Bangladeshi plumber arrived in Riyadh some two years ago on a Saudi visit visa. “The travel agent encouraged me to avail of the visit visa on the pretext that I would find plenty of opportunities to be gainfully employed by any Saudi sponsor,” he said. However, Hossain said he found employment but not without running a risk of being caught by the Saudi authorities and put behind the bars. “I earned some money during the past two-year period and now I want to go back home,” he said while thanking the Saudi amnesty system. Suneer, 25, and Russell are Indian bachelors that arrived in Saudi Arabia in a similar situation from Qatar and Bahrain, respectively. They were also forced to work in farmlands. Suneer was recruited from India to work as the personal driver of a company owned by his uncle's sponsor. However, his sponsor drove him from Qatar to Saudi Arabia and forced him to work in Sharoora, a town in the Kingdom. His repeated pleas to free him and allow him to go back home fell on deaf ears. “Each time Suneer pleaded with his sponsor to at least to take him back to Qatar, he was treated very rudely,” Kandi remarked. A native of Madapally in Kerala, Suneer realized the danger to his life and decided to run away from Sharoora, a remote border town in the Saudi Arabia. Kandi said Suneer was deprived of sleep and exhausted because he had to walk during nights through the desert to the city. He walked for 12 hours through the freezing cold of the desert to reach Riyadh. Muneeb Kandi, another IFF office-bearer is helping Suneer to avail of the Saudi amnesty and go back home. The good thing about these workers is that they carry their passports with them so they can get exit-only visas from the Saudi authorities, he said. The IFF is reaching out to the destitute workers with shelter before processing their papers either to get the Emergency Certificate (EC) from the Indian Embassy or exit visa from the Saudi authorities. __
