RIYADH: Wilting under pressure from government agencies and the media, a medical company that left 55 Asian health workers stranded here for several months has started paying the wages and arrears it owes the workers.
The Nukhba House for Medical Services was criticized by the US-based Human Rights Watch over the pay dispute. “The company paid seven months’ back pay to 13 workers,” said Abid Lateef Khan, a Pakistani worker.
Khan thanked Arab News for highlighting the workers’ plight. He said three workers had also received exit visas and were awaiting flights to leave the Kingdom.
Fifty-five Pakistani, Indian, Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi workers complained to the Ministry of Labor in March that the company forced them to work an extra year after their contracts expired. The workers also complained that the company had failed to pay for their tickets, retained up to eight months’ wages and withheld approval for exit visas.
The Riyadh Governorate later instructed local police to expedite the workers’ case. The troubles began when the company refused to send the workers home after their contracts expired in December 2006, saying it would only release them when replacements were found.
Asked about the wages being paid by the company, one of the workers, Gagan Kuman Singh, said, “The company has not settled the accounts of all workers ... It has paid seven months’ salary to 11 Pakistani workers and two Indian workers, who are now preparing to leave Riyadh. The workers, however, have not been paid their end-of-service benefits and ticket fare.”
He added, “Five Indians, three Bangladeshis and five people of other nationalities have not received even a single riyal from the sponsor.”
Even if the company paid their dues, many of the workers would not be able to leave immediately because of the expired iqamas. “Now it’s become difficult for us to move around to expedite our exit visas,” said one of the workers.
The Nukhba House for Medical Services was blacklisted earlier for its failure to honor contract terms and forcibly holding back a number of nurses after the expiry of their contracts.
