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Delighted and hoping for better

ABU DHABI — A 41-year-old Indian, Sugunan Nambiattil, who fled from his sponsor 10 months ago is delighted to be going home under the amnesty plan of the UAE government.

Nambiattil felt compelled to run away after the sponsor allegedly started using him as a slave giving only Dh100 per month. According to Nambiattil, “Whenever I went to him asking for the salary he used to compel me for work alluring to pay me better next month. If I started arguing with him about the matter he began to abuse me and sometimes he roughed me up, too.”

Nambiattil has applied for amnesty with the help of the Kerala Social Centre in Abu Dhabi and submitted all relevant documents to the Indian embassy. Right now, he is staying with a friend in Musaffah who supported him a lot in his gloomy days.

“Now, I am elated to get an opportunity to go back but I am also pursuing my case with another company in Abu Dhabi to obtain a visa. If I succeed, I will happily go for a change in my status with the help of the Indian Embassy,” Nambiattil said.

“I have been working in Abu Dhabi for the last 10 years but I could never imagine the treatment I got over the past one year. I was on my sponsor’s visa and he used to pay me Dh900 per month. But as the work got finished in the company over a year ago, he did not need me. When I pleaded with the sponsor for renewing my visa when it expired then he demanded for Dh2,000 for visa and Dh500 for medical which I gave him but he did not apply,” alleged Nambiattil.

Nambiattil doesn’t have a passport and a valid visa for the last 10 months. His passport is with his sponsor who supplies manpower to the companies and factories in Abu Dhabi.

• UAE