Around 50 expatriates of different nationalities have become victims of a dispute between the owners of their company in Hofuf, Al-Ahsa province.

The workers told Arab News that they hadn’t been paid their wages or received any benefits for the past 6 months.

They said that for the past one year, the company had been paying them their salaries after 45 to 59 days (one and half months to approximately three months) but now the workers had not been paid for the past 6 months. Moreover, some of the workers’ iqamas were close to the expiry date or had already expired but the company had not renewed them.

The workers told Arab News that the company’s owners are engaged in a family conflict about the factory’s ownership and are neglecting their workers who are worried and upset as they haven’t been paid and can’t send money back home to their families or even buy their own food.

“The dispute about the company’s legal ownership has been going on for many years due to which the company is on the verge of closing down,” the workers said.

“The company has also stopped receiving loans because of which there is no production in the company,” they told Arab News.

“A few days ago, three workers were arrested by the Passport Department for not possessing a valid iqama and they spent three days in jail for no fault of their own,” they said.

They also said that earlier, they were able to go out and do some work to earn money, but now it was impossible because their iqamas had expired.

“We were buying food on credit from a small shop because we had no cash to pay them. Recently, the company gave us SR200 each for food but we paid it to the shop instead,” they said.

There are 5 Pakistani nationals while the others belong to Bangladesh, India, Philippines and Egypt.

“We are 5 Pakistanis: Mohammad Qasim, Mohammad Ashraf, Tufail Khan, Fazal Rubi and Sarfaraz Ahmad who are employed by the company but the owner is not paying our salaries. Only one of us has been paid so far and we don’t have valid iqamas.”

The Pakistani workers appealed to the Pakistan Embassy saying, “We request the Pakistan Embassy to help us and we are hopeful that they will come to our aid,” the workers said.

The workers also told Arab News that Mohammad Ashraf, who has been working in the factory for the past 15 years, is suffering from an inflammation in the joints for the past several months. He has recently been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in the early stages.

“Due to severe knee joint pain and swelling he is unable to walk and he can’t even go to the toilet on his own. He got a medical paper from the government hospital yesterday to ease the process of his final exit, so that he may be allowed to leave the Kingdom without an iqama, but when he requested the plant manager to grant him his service benefits and air ticket, they said they have no money to pay at the moment,” the workers complained.

He is waiting for his money and air ticket and if the Pakistan Embassy can assist him, the poor worker can go back home.

“I am in great pain and can’t even walk. I can’t work here anymore and my fellow workers are the only people who are helping me in getting to the bathroom and for other necessities. I want to go back as for the past few months there has been no work at the factory and we haven’t been paid. As such, I want to go back home, and I humbly request our embassy to help me go back home,” said Ashraf.

The workers have also put up the case against the company in the labor court and the governor’s office in Al-Ahsa and are waiting for its outcome. They also said that it’s difficult for them to follow the case in the labor court due to lack of transportation.

They told Arab News that a few workers had resigned but that the company hadn’t accepted their resignation or let them go. A Bangladeshi worker died and his body is lying in cold storage. His health insurance is also going to expire. “We all went to the labor court but to no avail. The investigating inspector said that he had still not received the letter from the governor’s office,” they said.

The workers also said that a number of workers had not visited their home countries in the annual vacation for more than three years and there is no hope that they will get paid. In such a situation, the consulates and embassies should come forward to help them.

Arab News called the owner of the factory and asked him about the situation. The owner, requesting anonymity admitted that there was a dispute about the ownership of the company and they were unable to do anything until it was resolved.

“Our files in the Passport Department and Labor Office are not working because of the ownership case in court, and we can’t do anything about the Iqamas until the court settles our case,” he said.