JEDDAH, 12 December 2005 — Enera is a Filipino domestic helper currently looking for her sponsor who disappeared almost two months ago, leaving her without her iqama or passport. Now facing possible arrest by the authorities for not having her residency permit, Enera is desperate to find her sponsor, but all of his telephone numbers have been disconnected.
Enera arrived in the Kingdom seven months ago to join her husband, Pablo, who is employed as a groundskeeper at a local residential compound.
British couple Steve and Carole Jones befriended Pablo during the course of his employment, and, over time, sensed that he missed his wife dearly. They began making arrangements for Enera to join her husband here in Saudi Arabia.
A Filipino resident of the compound referred the couple to Waleed Abed Al-Jadaani as a suitable sponsor. They paid him SR2,500 as a down payment toward the total SR7,000 that he said he wanted in order to apply for and obtain a residency permit for Enera.
Upon her arrival at King Abdul Aziz International Airport, Enera was met by a flower-bearing Pablo, the Joneses, and Al-Jadaani, who took her passport and was immediately paid the remaining SR4,500 by the couple.
The plan was for Enera to be sponsored by Al-Jadaani but to work for the Joneses as a domestic helper in order to pay back the SR7,000.
It has now been seven months since her arrival, and at SR800 per month Enera has almost paid back her debt to the Joneses. Since her arrival, she has only seen the airport, the residential compound where she works, and the home where she lives, a five-minute walk away.
“I am too afraid to go anywhere. If the police find me with expired papers they will think that I am the one who ran away and not my sponsor. I will be arrested and deported,” Enera told Arab News.
“What is Enera supposed to do now? She has been fulfilling her commitment to us by working diligently,” Carole Jones told Arab News. “She has not broken the law and she has not run away.”
Said Steve Jones: “It is things like that that make this society look bad to the outside world. So as far as I am concerned, any good person who hears about this must jump into action and do something about it.”
As it stands at the moment, the Joneses biggest fear is that Al-Jadaani reports Enera as a runaway, handing over her passport to immigration officials in order to relieve him of any responsibility toward her.
According to labor guidelines, Al-Jadaani could immediately be issued a new visa to bring in another laborer at no cost if he reports Enera as a runaway. That visa can then be sold to anyone who needs to bring in a domestic helper.
“For all we know, that is what could have already happened,” said Steve Jones.
Enera is afraid to contact the police at this time, fearing that they may not understand her predicament. Instead, she is attempting to contact the Philippines Consulate by phone to find a resolution to her case.
