Even after court victory, OFW’s miseries continue

A Filipino engineer who has been pursuing a case against his sponsor for seven years is struggling to make ends meet and living in a state of limbo. The labor court issued a verdict in favor of Mangko Barani and awarded him SR 64,000 in compensation. However, he has still not received his dues and remains without a valid residence permit.
“Even though the sponsor owes me SR 64,000 according to the verdict issued by the labor court, I had to pay him more than SR 10,000 to renew my Iqama during the duration of this ordeal,” Barani told Arab News yesterday.
“Due to the ensuing problem, education of my children has been affected and some of them have even stopped attending school,” Barani said.
A labor case officer at the Philippine Embassy said that throughout the period in which the court sessions were held, Barani was issued a temporary work permit by the Saudi Labor Office. This permit was renewable until he won the court case two years ago. His permit has now long since expired.
Barani presented all the documents to Arab News.
“I know this is a generous government led by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah. I hope that officials will address my plight soon, as this case has been dragging on for far too long,” Barani explained.
According to the labor court, the defendant, who works in construction, is obliged to pay Barani an amount of SR 64,000 in lieu of his delayed salaries and as compensation for the period of his stay in the Kingdom without pay. The amount also includes his end of service benefits and unpaid annual leave. Moreover, the verdict states that the defendant should cover Barani’s travel expenses to his native country.
The defendant never appeared in any of the court hearings, and as such the court implemented article 67 for no-show, ruling unanimously in favor of Barani. The verdict was submitted to police authorities to implement the court decision.