Families call on MEA to help rescue those trapped by ‘overseas job agents’

HYDERABAD: 31-year-old Amena was in search of a job as her family was facing severe financial problems following her husband, Shaik Abdul Razzak’s accident. “She was approached by one Razzak Ali Khan, a travel agent who promised her a beautician’s job with a pay of 200 Kuwaiti Dinar -- which translates to `46,000,” said her husband Shaik Abdul.

Amena travelled to Kuwait on December 5, 2018. “She was made to work as a domestic help for 14 to 16 hours everyday with neither proper food nor accommodation,” Razzak alleged adding she was paid KD 100 -- `23,000.

“She has fallen ill and has voiced her will to return home. But her employer is allegedly demanding `2 lakh. He has reached out to the External Affairs Ministry for help.

Youth ‘missing’ in Malaysia

Parents of Syed Yousuf who has allegedly been missing in Malaysia for the last year and half, appealed to the External Affairs Ministry to help arrange their son’s repatriation. Syed was purportedly cheated by a travel agent Ahsan Raza who sent him to Malaysia for a ‘lucrative job’ and was paid `75,000 for the same. It was later revealed that Yousuf was sent on a visit visa and not a job visa. He ended up working for a mobile shop. Yousuf’s last contact with his parents was on October 23, 2017. Majlis Bachao Tehreek spokesperson Amjed Ullah Khan, who was approached by his parents to facilitate the appeal to the Ministry of External Affairs said, “Before going off the grid, he sent home money for two months.”
Meanwhile, Khan acknowledged that there have been incidents where people who go overseas for work, choose not to keep contact with their family. This is usually because, he said, they become distressed with the work and the conditions and gradually grow apart.