After being stranded for a little under a week, five Indian youths including three brothers, who fell victims to fraudulent recruitment agents are finally returning home.
The youths from the states of West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh were living in various mosques and roaming the streets without food and water for three days.
After the timely intervention of the Consulate-General of India and local social workers, the agents of these men were pressured to provide return airline tickets to the workers. They will take return flights to New Delhi late on Thursday night. Mohammed Milan Mundal (25), a West Bengal native, said it is disheartening to return home but believes it is for the best.
Agent makes false promises
The young men, who arrived in Dubai on visit visas on July 15, were promised jobs with a salary of Dh1,200 with accommodation facilities in two separate companies in Al Ain. The agents were located in Mumbai and New Delhi, India, with local representatives in the UAE who abandoned them.
Milan told Khaleej Times: “When we got to the company, we realised we are going to be given a salary of only Dh800, and food and accommodation costs need to be paid by us. No overtime was also offered. We make the same amount in India, then why should we work here.”
Local social workers stated there has been a rise in cases of fraud recruitment agents bringing workers to Dubai and abandoning them. Girish Pant, a member of the Indian consulate’s community welfare team, said travel agents in India must be discouraged from issuing visit visas to workers without background verification.
“In recent times, there has been a hike in such cases, and they come here and get completely stranded. The fraudsters target young people from really poor families who sell ancestral property or family gold to come to Dubai and work,” added Pant.
He has also been helping the five workers by connecting them with the Indian Association in Sharjah, which provided them with free accommodation and food for one night. Milan’s brothers Ashraful Mundal (29) and Sajjad Ali Mundal (21) came to Dubai after selling jewellery that belonged to his sister. “The gold was kept aside for our sisters’ wedding,” sighed Ashraful. Read More
