RIYADH, 22 June 2003 — With the summer vacation round the corner, a question mark hangs over the fate of some 33 teachers of the International Indian School, Riyadh (IISR).
Although the management of IISR claims that the teachers’ passports have been sent to the Riyadh passport office for transfer of information, Arab News drew a blank when it tried to contact IISR Director M.L.R. Jaffrey and chairman of the school’s management committee Muhammad Ali Ponnur.
Despite optimistic noises heard from the school corridor, the teachers remain skeptical over whether their Iqamas with exit/re-entry visas in the new passports will be ready in time for takeoff. The Doubting Thomases could be forgiven. After all, they have heard the same promises for the last nine months.
A spokesman of Air-India told Arab News that in the absence of complete documentation, it would be difficult for the teachers to confirm their bookings. As a rule, they are required to reconfirm their tickets at least 15 days prior to their departure date. In the current atmosphere of uncertainty, whether or not they are going to make it by Air-India is anybody’s guess.
The story began nine months ago when 33 Iqama-holders of the IISR staff submitted their passports along with Iqamas either for renewal or exit/re-entry. The school’s agent, Al-Mishari, who was entrusted with the task, decamped with the passports, Iqamas, SR49,000 in cash and the school car as well. The car was eventually recovered, but Al-Mishari’s whereabouts remain unknown.
A staff member told Arab News that all those who lost their documents travel to and fro in fear. “We don’t have any valid documents except copies of expired Iqamas with a note by the school’s director that they are being processed by the Riyadh passport office. That is not enough, since one of our colleagues, a lab assistant named Osman, was arrested recently and released two days later only after the intervention of the school authorities.”
The affected teachers point out that the crisis would not have brewed for so long if the school management had shown some evidence that they were really getting to grips with the problem. “During this nine-month period all we have known is that the new passports have been made and sent to the passport office for data entry.”
So what if the missing passports and Iqamas fall into the hands of criminals and are tampered with?
The police, of course, were notified. The Ministry of Education is also said to be on the lookout for the missing agent. However, no serious attempt has been made to recover the Iqamas and passports from his custody.
What is remarkable is the fact that Al-Mishari was on one occasion caught, but pulled a fast one and vanished. Some say that this speaks volumes about the level of seriousness on the part of the school management in dealing with the situation.
