The mission impossible was made possible after the two highly publicized cases were resolved by M. Aleem, an official working with the labor section of the Indian Embassy. in cooperation with Saudi officials and some Indian community leaders in Riyadh and Hafr Al-Batin.
"In the first case, four Indian female nurses — Ashley, Bindu, Aasha and Shely — came to the Kingdom five years ago to work in Aghsan Aliwy Hospital in Hafr Al-Batin," said Aleem, while giving the details of the case. The sponsor neither renewed the residence permits (Iqamas) of the workers nor did he allow the nurses to leave for India during vacations as per the provisions of the work agreements.
Once alerted, the Indian Embassy took prompt action first by establishing communication with the hospital officials and also by involving some local Indian community leaders. "But, all pleas fell on the deaf ears of the sponsor, which finally led me to decide on a stronger course of action," said Aleem. He said that he then took the case to the Hafr Al-Batin deputy governor and also to the Director General of Health Mutlak Al-Khemyali, who extended full support in rescuing the nurses.
Al-Khemyali raised the issue with the directors of the Passport Department and Labor Office. He then called the Saudi sponsor to endorse the final exit visa and pay the air fares for the nurses. "And thanks to the efforts of the Saudi officials, especially Al-Khemyali, that these nurses were finally repatriated to India last week," said Aleem.
In the other case, Aleem said three Indian nurses — Saramma Varghese, Subadhra Omana Kuttan and Sree Latha Vasudevan Nair — were rescued and repatriated by the embassy. These nurses were allegedly stranded after the new owner of a medical clinic closed down the institution without giving them any prior notice. He also turned down requests to extend validity of their Saudi ID papers including Iqama.
These nurses had been working for the last 18 years at Al-Hadi Polyclinic, Riyadh under the sponsorship of Obaidullah Al Shereef. The problem started after the death of the sponsor, when the clinic was given on an operational contract basis to a third Saudi citizen, Fahad Al-Shamri. He closed the clinic on Jan. 3, 2010 without any prior notice to the employees.
The nurses then filed a case in Labor Court, Riyadh against A-Shamri and the case was disposed of in favor of the nurses. But, a higher court set aside the verdict after appeal. Meanwhile, Al-Shamri disappeared with all the nurses' passports and documents. After extended pressure by the embassy, Al-Shamri was traced on March 25 this year with the help of some local Indian welfare activists.
While pursuing Al-Shamri, the embassy persisted in contacting and talking to the original Saudi sponsor Faisal Shereef, who meanwhile had settled in Hafr Al-Batin. Finally, the embassy succeeded in convincing him to grant the nurses final exit documents, said Aleem. The nurses were eventually sent back to India on May 6.
