Workers rescued from bus to start life afresh

Twenty-three workers of a Dubai-based company were forced to live in a bus after their owner fled the country.

After eight to nine months of extreme hardship and suffering, 11 of the 23 workers who were living aboard a bus for over a fortnight are finally going home. Eleven workers of Indian origin will return home to their families on Thursday. The workers of Pakistani origin are living in labour accommodation in Dubai and will be resettled soon as well.
Twenty-three workers of a contracting company called Qasr Al Ameer were left in a lurch after their owner fled the country 50 days ago without paying the workers. They were forced to live inside a bus for over a fortnight with little access to food and water.
"Our tickets to Mumbai have been booked for Thursday ... It is after weeks that I am feeling a sense of relief and happiness. We are truly relieved," Bhuvaneshwar Mishra, one of the workers who lived inside the bus, told Khaleej Times.
"My father told me not to leave India ... I didn't listen to him then. This experience has taught me some fine life lessons ... I will now go back and start a small business in my hometown."
India's minister for External Affairs and Overseas Indian Affairs, Sushma Swaraj, has also intervened in the case. The minister has assured of action against the agent who duped the workers from India and offered help to the workers through the Indian mission over here.
"I will ask (the) UP (Uttar Pradesh) Government to register a case against this unscrupulous agent. Our Embassy will help in Dubai," she tweeted on Monday, after taking note of an Indian newspaper report about the workers' issue that followed the first report on them by Khaleej Times on Sunday.
When contacted, the Indian Consulate in Dubai said the mission had already started assisting the workers after the officials got to know of the case through the KT report.
"The workers had not approached us for help ... We got to know about their case from your ... report," a spokesperson from the Consulate told Khaleej Times on Tuesday.
He said the mission had immediately sent a social worker to get in touch with the workers and also followed up the case with the local authorities and the local sponsor of the company.
"The consulate has assisted them with the necessary procedures for the cancellation of their visas and for securing exit passes. Five of the Indian workers received the exit passes yesterday and the remaining are expected to receive them today," he said.
According to the official, the local authorities waived off the hefty fines imposed on the workers and the local sponsor agreed to pay a month's salary to them. He added that a report about the case had already been sent to the Indian minister.
Social worker Girish Pant, an Indian national who has been in close touch with the workers from day one, said officials at the Ministry of Labour, Dubai Police Human Rights Department, and the Indian Consulate in Dubai were very cooperative in the case. "By Wednesday, all fines and paperwork will be cleared. The men went through a very rough patch ... It is wonderful to see them so happy."
Pant said several other South Asian expatriates came to the help of the workers. "It was not just me, but an entire team of people who came to their rescue," he said.
Community members steps in to save workers
"It was the combined effort of social workers like Girish Pant, Juhi Khan, and several others. If it weren't for them, we'd still be out on the streets," said Mishra. 
Pant, who first found out about their workers grievances took the initiative and helped in initial relief work, coordinated with employer, and arranged diesel for the bus.
Meanwhile, Dubai resident Juhi Yasmeen Khan requested officials at the Indian and Pakistan consulates, coordinated with labor ministry, Dar Al Ber Society, and the Gurudwara in Jebel Ali for food and other supplies. She arranged for the return of the passports, flight tickets, and got Aster Medical Clinic to arrange a hospital bus to provide medication for the workers.
Another resident Mashkoor Hasan arranged accommodation, blankets, transportation, and food.
Radio Jockey Aftab Alam arranged lunch on December 18 and entertained the workers by lifting their spirits by performing for them in their camp in Sharjah.
Mairaj Ali, Imtiyaz Khan, Inam Abidi, and Farhat Khan coordinated with authorities, delivered medicines, and provided food for the workers. Rashid Khan and Nadeem Husain arranged relief material and visited workers at far flung locations, and members of the Dar Al Ber Society arranged food for dinner on December 18.
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