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Hoping against hope to secure ‘that elusive NOC’

“I was amazed then at how modern and organised the Dubai International Airport was. After finishing my labour contract in Lebanon, I made a decision to work in the UAE,” she began.

She realised her objective in October 2006 when she was finally employed from Manila as a household cook in Abu Dhabi. But only after six months, she felt the physical burden of cooking for a household comprising more than 30 members.

“My sponsors had an extended family and I was the sole cook for them. It was a hard job and I was being paid only Dh700 a month. I could have endured even that if not for the fact that one of my employer’s relatives attempted to make a sexual pass at me,” Martinez said.

The thought of being sexually molested scared her enough to make her want to plan for an escape, she said. In April this year, she ran away and in the course of four months staying with friends, Martinez said she was able to meet a good-natured person who is willing to give her a new sponsorship.

“I applied for the amnesty in the hope that I can regularise my residency status. I learned that I need to get a no objection certificate (NOC) from my sponsors, which I tried very much in vain,” she pointed out.

Martinez said she even pleaded with her former employers for the NOC. “I even cried but they refused nonetheless. My prospective new sponsor was willing to pay all the fines and necessary expenses,” she said.

A few days left before the end of the amnesty, Martinez said she was still praying and continuously hoping that her former sponsors would heed her request. “I hope they would give me another chance to start all over again,” she said.

• UAE