UAE: Duped by agents, 64 Indian job-seekers found living in one apartment

Sharjah - A social worker learnt about the men’s plight after seeing a few of them sitting by the roadside, crying.

Sixty-four Indian men found cramped in a one-bedroom apartment have been rescued in Sharjah. It turned out they were flown in by unscrupulous recruitment agents who promised them jobs in the UAE.

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The men, who arrived on visit visas from various parts of India, claimed they were duped by a group of agents from Uttar Pradesh. Each of them had paid Rs150,000 (Dh7,500) after being told they would be employed as blue-collar workers in the UAE. The jobs never came.

Social worker Shirali Shaikh Muzaffer learnt about the men’s plight after seeing a few of them sitting by the roadside in Sharjah, crying.

“Most of these workers are skilled carpenters and AC technicians from the Indian states of UP, Bihar and Delhi. The agents told them they own a UAE company that deals in supplying labour to other companies in the Gulf,” Muzaffer said.

“These men gave the agents their life savings for the dream to start a new life here in the UAE,” he added.

Their ordeal began soon after landing in the UAE. The agent reportedly sent a driver to pick them up after making them wait for 14 long hours, the social worker explained. “As soon as they were seated in the van, they were asked to hand over their passports and were then taken to a one-bedroom flat in Sharjah.”

They were given food once, with each getting a piece of chapati and tea. But later on, the agents reportedly told them they should start fending for themselves, the workers told Muzaffer.

At one point, when they asked the agents for their passports, they were taken to a room where they were assaulted and beaten with sticks, they added. “The agents threatened the workers that they will never send them back to their home country if they protest.”