JEDDAH, 19 March 2004 — Six runaway Filipino workers who tried to go home through the so-called Jeddah “back door” have found themselves in deeper trouble after being swindled of cash and belongings by their own compatriots.
According to Junior (not his real name) he and five others paid SR2,000 each to a man known as “Jorge” upon their arrival in Jeddah on Oct. 5, 2003. “Jorge” and another guy named “Dok” approached them in Riyadh in September offering help.
In a letter complaint submitted by Junior and his companions to the Philippine Consulate in Jeddah, Junior related how the payment took place.
“We arrived in Jeddah on the night of Oct. 5, 2003. Ador Aguilar met us and reminded us of our agreement to pay him the total amount of SR12,000 (or SR2,000 each). He gave us two envelopes and instructed us to put our money in those envelopes,” he said.
After the payment was made, Jorge instructed them to leave all their belongings, which included six travel bags full of valuables, 6 Iqamas, and 4 mobile phones models Nokia 7650, 5210, 3510i, and 3310.
After this, Junior said, they were all herded to a waiting car and were driven toward Makkah. They were ordered to get of the car and walk to a checkpoint where policemen arrested them.
Their voluntarily courting arrest was supposed to be part of the plan to get them summarily repatriated.
Police, however, did not fall for their ploy reportedly because when the runaways were questioned, they failed to mention that they were on Umrah and have overstayed. They told the authorities that they were working in Riyadh but escaped from their Saudi sponsor.
It’s not clear if the authorities learned of the trick or not, but they sent back the six bungling workers to Riyadh on Oct. 7, where they were locked up in jail until Oct. 23. Their sponsor, upon notification from authorities, took them back.
Quizzed by Arab News why they trusted Dok and Jorge with their money, all the victims could say was that they would rather go home than work another day for their sponsor whom they accused of mistreating them. Junior claimed that their sponsor never honored their contracts: they worked overtime without pay, given no health insurance, and were subjected to excessive deductions, including the payment of their iqamas.
Junior said they tried to ask around to find out if Dok and Jorge are clean and were told “they are okay.”
But Arab News learned that many OFWs desperate to go home have fallen victim to the partners. Unfortunately, the swindlers could not be pinned down for lack of evidence.
Jorge is said to be a trailer driver, which makes it easy for him to arrange the transportation. But after the would-be escapees have arrived Jeddah and have paid the “contract” amount, they would be left on their own.
Junior, together with three of his companions, are back in Jeddah to retrieve their belongings.
“We just want to take back our belongings. We are no longer interested in the money we paid these goons. If we can just recover our belongings, we will be happy,” he said.
Alex (not his real name) lamented, “I have the only picture of my wife and children in my wallet that is in my travel bag.”
