Stranded Pakistanis
Workers are justified in demanding they not be deported as they committed no wrong; in fact, they have been cheated.
The 700 Pakistanis arrived in Saudi Arabia towards the end of 2011 and since then have not been allowed to work or travel outside the Kingdom.
Of the 700 Pakistani workers stranded in Saudi Arabia, for one, the recent notice taken by President Asif Ali Zardari of their situation, has come too late. One of the workers stranded in Saudi Arabia, for over a year in a visa fraud, died on February 10, after falling from a roof while working.
The Pakistani workers, who went to Saudi Arabia a year ago, have been left stranded in the kingdom — swindled by a Turkish construction company they thought they would be in the employment of — and face deportation. According to a report, the workers said they paid a large fee to get their visas issued, which turned out to be illegal. As a result, their passports were confiscated as per Saudi law. The workers are justified in demanding that they not be deported as they have committed no wrong; in fact, they have been cheated and deserve to be reimbursed by the fraudulent company whose managers have been arrested. In this regard, Pakistani authorities should speak to their Turkish counterparts to try to work out a solution. However, some of the workers just want to come home.
Responding to the workers’ desperate pleas, the president finally took notice of the matter after a story published in this paper and, according to a worker, the Pakistani embassy in Riyadh has assured that it is now looking into the situation. Indeed, the government should do all it can to protect the rights of its workers so that their woes can be resolved, and in the case of the late Dost Swalay, his body can come home. Sadly, the Pakistan government has an abysmal record when it comes to migrant workers whose lot is a sorry one in the Gulf because they have few rights and little access to legal recourse. The Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis has done little to alleviate their miseries, though attempts are made to repatriate undocumented workers home now and again. Suffice to say, these efforts are not enough and more must be done.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 16th, 2013.
The Pakistani workers, who went to Saudi Arabia a year ago, have been left stranded in the kingdom — swindled by a Turkish construction company they thought they would be in the employment of — and face deportation. According to a report, the workers said they paid a large fee to get their visas issued, which turned out to be illegal. As a result, their passports were confiscated as per Saudi law. The workers are justified in demanding that they not be deported as they have committed no wrong; in fact, they have been cheated and deserve to be reimbursed by the fraudulent company whose managers have been arrested. In this regard, Pakistani authorities should speak to their Turkish counterparts to try to work out a solution. However, some of the workers just want to come home.
Responding to the workers’ desperate pleas, the president finally took notice of the matter after a story published in this paper and, according to a worker, the Pakistani embassy in Riyadh has assured that it is now looking into the situation. Indeed, the government should do all it can to protect the rights of its workers so that their woes can be resolved, and in the case of the late Dost Swalay, his body can come home. Sadly, the Pakistan government has an abysmal record when it comes to migrant workers whose lot is a sorry one in the Gulf because they have few rights and little access to legal recourse. The Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis has done little to alleviate their miseries, though attempts are made to repatriate undocumented workers home now and again. Suffice to say, these efforts are not enough and more must be done.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 16th, 2013.