Tragic Story

[actob99 156]

I have several friends and relatives working in the Middle East. Jena has 2 brothers working in Dubai and this topic is of interest to us.

How have their experiences been?

[kev_n_jena 89]

How have their experiences been?

From what I've gathered, the two brothers in Dubai have done well. I haven't heard any complaints about working conditions although they haven't requested their contracts be ended early. A female cousin working as a housekeeper hasn't complained that I know of.

A good friend of mine that also worked for me had a very hard time when the business he worked for folded. He was basically homeless for weeks trying to find work. In the end he sought help from the embassy for fare home. I don't remember which country it was, only that it was somewhere in the middle east.

Jena has four other younger siblings that may or may not seek work abroad. We try to stay informed about working conditions if we can. I think first hand accounts can be more informative than government provided information in some cases. For example; travel warnings from the US government can be overly cautious.

[actob99 156]

I think first hand accounts can be more informative than government provided information in some cases. For example; travel warnings from the US government can be overly cautious.

I agree, i like firat hand accounts. My friends wife sets up jobs in Dubai for filipino workers. Most all of the jobs are working at the airport in the duty free shops and I have heard nothing but good stories. I know two of them which are her nephews and they are extremely happy.

I have many friends that work abroad as aircraft mechanics mostly in the middle east. Most of those jobs are with american companies but a few working for Sauidi Airlines. They have had no issues, but I believe its because that is a high skill job for a major airline.

But I have heard numerous stories of incrediably bad situations of workers that go as house maids/helpers. A friends daughter had to escape and leave behind he belongings and passport. She went to the embassy and they took care of her getting home and passport. I have witnessed in Sharjah at the McDonalds in the airport an incident. A lady and her two kids had just received her order. Their were 5 of us in line behind her. She stepped aside and the kids now wanted ice cream cones. She already taken the girls order in front of me. This lady actually pushed the lady, foreigner in front of me and told the filipina worker she wanted two ice cream cones. The worker responded that she already took an order and she would have to wait. This lady belittled and said some things that I won't repeat, and the girl actually cried. She got two cones right away and gave them to her and rang them up on the other register and the woman and kids walked away without paying, smiling. If that would have been any other place I would have exploded.. The worker was so shook up I felt sorry. i spoke a little Tagalog to her and still no smiles. I tipped her more than the price of the cones to take care of it if it was an issue..

I'm not prejudice as well but I call it like I see it.....

[lovelovelove13 9]

I think your fiance misunderstood her contract. Let me just enlighten you a little. Every employee who signed for a 2-year contract to work in KSA under a private company have probation period for 3 months and that is the first 3 months of their contract. If the employee decided to go home within that period for some reason, like what you have mentioned above then he/she can go home without paying them. And also if the employer is not satisfied by the employees work performance they can cancel the employee's contract and send him/her home. But if the employee is already in her 4th and decided to go home, he/she have to pay the owner for breaching the contract, that is called employment bond. Since the owner paid for her visa, airfare etc they will ask you to pay them.

I worked as a Nurse in Saudi Arabia for 2 years, I have been in private hospital like your fiance. been in her situation when I was still there. I wanted to go home because I missed my family and I am really homesick. I did not sleep good, you know a typical homesickness that every OFW experience. When it was my 4th month there I talked to the owner and like what happened to your fiance, they asked me to pay them SR10,000 for breaching my contract which I did not pay because that is alot of money so I decided to stay and finish my contract. Correct me if I am wrong, you said your fiance started to work there since feb2012 and just decided to process her papers so she can go back home 9 months after. So if we rationalize everything, I think she is just being afraid of what the future hold her like she can not go home in time and if that's the case the Phil Embassy can help her.

Edited January 28, 2013 by lovelovelove13

[lierre 224]

This is incredibly frustrating indeed.

How is your fiancee? Is she finally able to fly to the Philippines?

[YayaYiyi 0]

Since the owner paid for her visa, airfare etc they will ask you to pay them.

I read the contract and there was nothing stating about a fine though every hospital she has worked for has had such a fine. Here is the reality. The cost for the Visa is 2000SR. At most, the cost for a 1 way ticket is 2000SR at this time of year. Further, the owner of the hospital also owns the airline, so the real cost for them is much lower. My fiancee knows people in the administration, she works with a woman whose husband works there, and she also is close w/ her Saudi colleagues who were shocked to find out what happened to her and these people have inquired to try to understand what is happening.

The absolute most it cost the owner is 6000SR, let's say 7000SR for the sake of argument. Real cost is much lower since he owns the airlines. So, approximately $750 dollars is what he makes off of her (more in reality). The owner had also stated that she was not to be paid her final month salary which the HR manager (cousin of owner, called owner for my fiancee and was able to convince him to give this to her). Initially, the owner had said 10,000 SR and forfeit of this months salary.

The word that came out is that they put this high amount of fine on her thinking that she would not be able to pay and since her permit expires in April and it takes 3 months to process, they figured they would be able to extend her even longer.

This is nothing but pure thuggery.

[YayaYiyi 0]

This is incredibly frustrating indeed.

How is your fiancee? Is she finally able to fly to the Philippines?

My fiancee had 8000 SR not counting this months work. So, the lab manager loaned her 2000 which she will pay back when she gets her final months pay. She thought she could pay using the money they owe her for this month considering they have to settle up with her before she leaves, but they did not allow this to happen.

So, tomorrow, she is going to pay her 10,000 fine and hope the clearance process begins.

[lierre 224]

My fiancee had 8000 SR not counting this months work. So, the lab manager loaned her 2000 which she will pay back when she gets her final months pay. She thought she could pay using the money they owe her for this month considering they have to settle up with her before she leaves, but they did not allow this to happen.

So, tomorrow, she is going to pay her 10,000 fine and hope the clearance process begins.

It's bordering entrapment. Sigh. I wish everything will go smoothly with the clearance after she pays.

[lovelovelove13 9]

That is how system works in Saudi Arabia man and that's bullshit I know. It's like their call or no call at all.

So how is your fiance going?

[Jim-Michelle 5]

Michelle was working as an OFW nurse in Riyadh, KSA until February of this year. Her contract clearly indicated that leaving early would make her responsible for her own airline ticket and she would have to pay a fine equivalent to two months pay (shockingly little but it caused her a lot of undue stress). It was worth every penny to get her out of there eight months before her contract was up.

[madtownguy 164]

Ok this might sound like I'm a naive american but why can't you just pay her ticket and she leaves? It sounds like that's not an option but I don't understand why? Civil contracts don't mean much if you don't care to go back to the country they are in. I respect you for staying calm, if I felt my sister or nieces were held in an arab country to some stupid contract I would start leveling the largest buildings first until nobody could control who came and went. I've never heard any stories like these but maybe it's good I haven't. After I saw Argo I wanted to go level a few blocks in Iran.

[Caryh 5,206]

Ok this might sound like I'm a naive american but why can't you just pay her ticket and she leaves? It sounds like that's not an option but I don't understand why? Civil contracts don't mean much if you don't care to go back to the country they are in. I respect you for staying calm, if I felt my sister or nieces were held in an arab country to some stupid contract I would start leveling the largest buildings first until nobody could control who came and went. I've never heard any stories like these but maybe it's good I haven't. After I saw Argo I wanted to go level a few blocks in Iran.

A foreign worker cannot not leave KSA without an exit permit, they will be checked at the airport. The exit permit needs to be signed by the sponsor, who would be the employer. Its also the norm for the sponsor (employer) to hold the passport of their foreign workers. Even if your contract is over, there are many cases where employers refused to let a foreign employee leave and go home. Everything is up to the Saudi national's desire even if those desires violate the contract. A non-Muslim foreigner has next to no rights in KSA, a Muslim foreigner has a bit more, but still not a lot. There are many Filipinos trapped at the Philippines embassy waiting for the consulate to negotiate their exit from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Some can wait years to get out without that exit permit. A lot of these cases are Filipinas that have been abused, raped, held beyond their contract, and never paid for their work. A contract is really only enforceable on the foreigner in KSA, not the Saudi national.

[madtownguy 164]

A foreign worker cannot not leave KSA without an exit permit, they will be checked at the airport. The exit permit needs to be signed by the sponsor, who would be the employer. Its also the norm for the sponsor (employer) to hold the passport of their foreign workers. Even if your contract is over, there are many cases where employers refused to let a foreign employee leave and go home. Everything is up to the Saudi national's desire even if those desires violate the contract. A non-Muslim foreigner has next to no rights in KSA, a Muslim foreigner has a bit more, but still not a lot. There are many Filipinos trapped at the Philippines embassy waiting for the consulate to negotiate their exit from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Some can wait years to get out without that exit permit. A lot of these cases are Filipinas that have been abused, raped, held beyond their contract, and never paid for their work. A contract is really only enforceable on the foreigner in KSA, not the Saudi national.

That is so wrong on so many levels. If they want to leave let them. I guess I have not been to a country where this is possible, nobody checks to see if it is legal for me to leave. China did a weird thing which I wasn't exactly happy with, they stamped my passport when switching planes in China. So one of my pages has just one stamp instead of an entry/exit stamp. Hopefully the OP can afford to pay the fee and get her the heck out of there, that sounds like just a bad news situation. You would think the Philippine government would do something about it. What a shame.

[Caryh 5,206]

That is so wrong on so many levels. If they want to leave let them. I guess I have not been to a country where this is possible, nobody checks to see if it is legal for me to leave. China did a weird thing which I wasn't exactly happy with, they stamped my passport when switching planes in China. So one of my pages has just one stamp instead of an entry/exit stamp. Hopefully the OP can afford to pay the fee and get her the heck out of there, that sounds like just a bad news situation. You would think the Philippine government would do something about it. What a shame.

They did try to enforce more humane treatment of their citizens, but what can they really do? KSA said no its our country our rules. Philippines threatened to disallow its citizens from travelling there, and the citizens said you can't do that. You've got hungry people in one country willing to take any risk to earn an income, and another that thinks all non-muslims and foreign workers in general are nothing but near animal slaves. It wasn't that long ago when KSA actually got rid of slavery, and the mindset of the people in KSA is these workers are slaves now that they've signed a contract.

[actob99 156]

I was forced to work there on occasion with my last company... A long with some filipino professional trade workers that worked for me... I have seen and heard the worse.. I care not to ever go back there, ever!!!! I was offered a job 6 months ago in Riyahd making 150k a year with housing allowance and for sure my wife could get work there.. We would also get free travel to and from the PI every 3 months with 3 weeks off. I not only said NO, HELL NO!! Money isn't everything as I have learned, making half of what I made working abroad, because now my two boys are a huge part of my life..