Indian consulate in Dubai aids 30 workers stuck at airport
Dubai: The Indian Consulate in Dubai has assisted 30 workers from Rajasthan, who were unable to board a repatriation flight due to pending fines, it was reported on Friday.
These workers were stranded in the airport for four days after they failed to board a repatriation flight on July 17, said the Gulf news report.
After hearing their plight, the Consulate arranged for them to move to a labour accommodation on Tuesday.
Speaking to Gulf News, the construction company workers said they were scheduled to board a charter flight that was repatriating stranded Indians to Jaipur on July 17.
However, they said only 10 out of 40 could clear the immigration, while the rest failed to do so due to their pending fines.
“Some of us are on visit visas while some others’ residence visas have already expired. We didn’t know we would have to pay fines. Some have fines of about 10,000-11,000 dirhams while others have smaller amount of fines,” one worker told Gulf News.
The workers claimed they were not paid for three to seven months.
Neeraj Agrawal, consul for Press, Information and Culture at the Indian Consulate told Gulf News that the workers informed the mission that two of them had gone back to their accommodation and found the place empty.
“That is why they refused to go back. We called the company representatives and asked them to arrange alternate accommodation for them and repatriate them at the earliest,” he said.