RIYADH, 28 June 2005 — Dr. Ganesh Pande, a specialist in internal medicine, has been working in the Kingdom since 1986. Nineteen years later he is a prisoner. The doctor’s sponsor has not paid him since 2002 and has held his passport against his will. In other words, Dr. Pande has been denied both his financial entitlements and his right to a vacation since 2002.
The Indian doctor first came to Saudi Arabia with a contract to work in a private clinic in Riyadh (Olaya Polyclinic Center in Thalatheen Street, Olaya District).
He explained, “Things went well at first but then after a number of years, conditions deteriorated. The clinic was handed over to a partner, Dr. Khaled, who did not pay much attention to things and the business became a financial disaster.”
In August 2002, Dr. Pande began suffering from back pain and requested leave. He was paid, allowed to go on leave and while in India, he had surgery on his back.
When he returned, he found the polyclinic had been sold. He explained to the new owner of the clinic that his doctor had advised him not to work and consequently, he resigned and asked for his end of service payment.
The new owner told him that he had nothing to do with his entitlements for the period before he had taken over the clinic and that it was a problem which the former owner would have to deal with.
Dr. Pande’s entitlements at this point were almost SR100,000. As required by Saudi law, he gave a one-month notice of resignation and requested an exit-only visa.
The new owner told him, “I am not going to pay you. I am not responsible for your entitlements from a former employer.”
However, his new sponsor promised to pay him when he agreed to remain with the clinic for a short time, but he soon found out that he was being deceived.
Time passed and nothing happened; he asked for his money and his sponsor told him, “Go ahead and leave but I am not paying you anything.”
Dr. Pande then decided to approach the authorities and that is when the bureaucratic nightmare began. He submitted his complaint to the labor office and his sponsor “began playing games and not showing up when summoned by the labor office.”
After no results, Dr. Pande was told by the office to go to the police in Suleimaniya. The police called a representative from the clinic and an Egyptian, who is the medical director, was sent. But he was not accepted as the clinic’s legal representative by the police and things dragged on as the clinic again sent someone whom the police would not accept as a legal representative.
After wasting a month, the police transferred the case to the preliminary committee for settling grievances which is linked to the Labor Ministry.
The committee asked the owner to bring in official deeds of ownership. The clinic owner — Dr. Pande’s sponsor — brought in the wrong papers and an appointment was made for the following month.
This game continued for eight more months during which time, the owner of the clinic sent people to Dr. Pande’s house late at night. They banged on the door and told him, “Since you no longer work for the clinic, hand over your keys and leave.”
The sponsor also went to the police to ask them to evict Dr. Pande. At that point, Dr. Pande hired a lawyer, Lotfi Madani. Despite Madani’s argument that his client was being held against his will in the Kingdom by his sponsor who refused to pay him his entitlements, the police insisted that Dr. Pande had to pay the rent or face eviction.
To add even more woes to his terrible situation, Dr. Pande’s mother-in-law died. He informed the lawyer that he wanted to leave everything to him to sort out and go to India to be with his family, even if he did not receive his money.
“About this time,” Dr. Pande continued, “banks began a new system which involved the compulsory renewing of credentials and foreigners were asked to bring letters from their sponsors. As I had no sponsor, my bank account was frozen.”
At this point, Dr. Pande and his lawyer sought help from the Riyadh governor’s office. An official there told Dr. Pande that he could leave the financial case with his lawyer and that the governor’s office would get his passport to enable him to leave.
Unfortunately, because of Dr. Pande’s financial situation, he was in no position to leave. He needed to work for several months so that he could repay those from whom he had borrowed money. He asked the governor’s office to allow him to stay in order to pay his debts and the office granted him permission.
A letter was sent to the Passport Department, saying that he could continue to work in the Kingdom until his case was settled. He then began working at a different clinic and is still there.
All attempts to settle the case have failed. According to Dr. Pande, his old sponsor has sent him messages that he will prolong his former employee’s stay in the Kingdom. And he seems to be succeeding in that.
“At the last court hearing, he sent a messenger saying that he was sick and could not come and again, the hearing was delayed for another two months,” said the doctor.
Dr. Pande is a prisoner. He has no passport and his entitlements from years of working in the Kingdom have not been paid. His file is full of letters from the labor office, the Labor Ministry, appeals to the minister of labor, letters from the Indian ambassador to the governor, statements from courts, statements from the polyclinic he once worked in, and statements from his lawyer.
Nothing, however, has diminished the determination of Dr. Pande’s sponsor to shirk his responsibilities and exercise his power. With no law to force him to appear in court, he has succeeded in making Dr. Pande suffer with neither the money owed to him nor the ability to leave the country.
