Lots of Goans are working in Gulf countries and Saudi is one of them. The condition of work is not aways good and many a time one had to suffer to earn few dollars. This is the story of one such Goan who was working in Saudi and narrated ordeal of his suffering though this piece of article. According to him, After working hard for almost 8months without proper food, salary, medications, in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, finally directed to escape from his work site and reach to the Indian embassy in Riyadh. He was facing constant assault by the officials while he was in Saudi for 8months. Here he explains how he managed to flee from there and came down to his home country. Here is the report.
In his sufferings, Chandrakant Sinari, a Goan working in Saudi was helped by a Pakistani car driver who assisted him to flee his Arabian employers and took him to Riyadh. He was denied from help there when he borrowed money from a Goan working there and managed to return to his hometown in Goa. That’s how he was reunited with his family on Wednesday.
This news of Chandrakant from Gandhinagar, Sanvordem, got stuck in Saudi was first highlighted by Herald publication some months ago. When he was back to Goa, this is what he told to Herald about his unkind experience.
Sinari was employed as a truck driver in Saudi became emotional as he hoped to pay off his liabilities in Goa caused due to mining ban. He said, “It is because of the efforts of my wife and God’s grace that I have managed to reach back home.” He had signed a contract with Margao-based Company and had paid Rs 70,000 for the job. He got a job of a truck driver at the salary of Rs 17,000 at Saudi.
As narrated by Sinari, he was paid a salary for five months, and beside him, two other Nepali men and one more from Karnataka were working there without a salary. There was no proper shelter or food and he developed a boil on his neck and was in pain. Sinari said, “I informed my employer about my condition and requested him to relieve me to go back home, but he did not care.” He added, “We were not given salaries and were assaulted by them. They threatened to file police complaints and get us arrested if we complained or refused to work. Later, we were taken to the Yemen border, which is over 1,700 kilometers away.”
Explaining his condition he said, “There was no water, no food and no room to stay. When we demanded our salary before resuming work, we were assaulted badly and were sent to Yemen and were forced to feed water to camels and goats.” Chandrakant’s Identity card was also taken away from him. “Nobody entertained any of my requests as I did not have the ID card. But I was determined to flee even though I was 1,200 kilometers from the embassy,” he said.
He explained, “I had only 400 Riyals left when a Pakistani car driver sympathized with my condition and took me to Riyadh by hiding me below the car seat. If I was caught without identity, I would have been arrested and left in jail to rot.”
He had only taken his passport and other documents, leaving his luggage in the vehicle. He spent a night at a bus stand in Riyadh and next morning he called up a friend and went to the Indian Embassy, where he was asked to return after four days.
“My brother-in-law put me in touch with one of his friends there named Dawood, who took me to his room, gave me clothing and footwear, and later gave me money for my ticket and I flew back to Goa.”
Not all the stories have a good ending some stories never see their end. There are many Indians who are working aboard under the similar circumstances does not get the chance to escape from the trap of their employers due to the contract they sing with their employers and the employers takes maximum advantage of the situation. If you have any such story and want to share with us, please do send them to us at [email protected] and we will publish them here. Such satires help other people who working abroad in severe condition. If you wish to share your comments please go ahead.
