So we hear a lot about how countries liek Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia etc use slave labor because people from Africa, india, pakistan, bangladesh or whatever come over to work and then they live in horrible conditions and their employers steal their passports so they can’t leave. How does this stop anyone from leaving?
I know for a fact that if you lose a US passport while you are abroad you can go to the embasssy and report it lost and they print an emergency passport which can be used to leave the country. Yesterday i was at an airport in Poland and someone from Italy or something had his passport stolen and he used some document printed by the embassy allowing him to leave. Do countries like india or pakistan or whatever not have these? I get maybe its dificult for africans since many african countries only have a few embassies abroad in other countries or they might not offer many services but can these people who are “enslaved” not just go to their embassies and explain the situation so they can leave teh country? Do their countries just not give a shit that they’re being “enslaved?” I understnad that Gambia or Guinea Bisseau can’t stand up to the UAE but surely India or Pakistan can.
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Here’s how it worked/works in Dubai. On arrival into the country there is an agent for the company that collects everyone’s passport to get your labor card, and loads them on the bus to the company housing. If you work as a domestic servant, your employer will ask to keep your passport in their safe for your own security.
What happens if you are a middle-class worker is that you will have your personal space, so you will have your birth certificate, and other ID documents in your possession. If you go to the Indian consulate, you will get a replacement passport in a few days. If you are a maid/laborer, you won’t bring your birth certificate, so you can’t get a replacement passport. For the middle class people who CAN get a replacement passport, you still can’t easily leave
– if you are leaving permanently, you need to cancel your residence visa which needs a no-objection letter from your employer/bank/police depending on the kind of sponsor. This means if you have a loan/police charges/pissed off your boss, you can be barred from leaving.
-if you are thinking, why not just leave without cancelling the visa, is that you can’t re-enter the country if the previous visa has not been cancelled. So if you have family etc, you can do a permanent complete family exit, or nothing.
– All debt is personal debt in Dubai and other Arab countries, and not paying is a crime. So if you miss a mortgage payment, or don’t pay a vendor, they will file a case against you that puts you on a travel watchlist. You can’t leave the country till you pay, and the cops are on their way to lock you up. Debt is the most common reason people want to leave.
– if you stop showing up to work, the company will report you as ‘absconding’ which also puts you on a travel watchlist.
If the situation with your employer goes bad, you basically need to work out your contract, no matter what. You cannot legally leave unless your employer allows it.
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