With reference to the report "Release letter: Expats forced to shell out huge amounts" (July 23), I had to pay SR 8,000 to my sponsor to get my release papers. To add to my misery, the company that has employed me has now charged me SR 4,000 to cover the cost of what they spent on transferring my sponsorship. Everyone I talked to told me that I had two options: leave the country on exit only visa (that too with charges) or pay to get the release from my sponsor. There are a lot of people out there struggling to find such a large amount of money. Salim, Online response
II. There are many expatriates I know who are in a dilemma and do not know what to do. They are trying to find money to pay their sponsors so that they can rectify their status. Their only recourse is to borrow money from friends, but there are many in need at the same time and the amounts required are quite large. The Ministry of Labor should look into this issue seriously and rescue these victims of unscrupulous sponsors. At the same time the greedy sponsors should be saved from the great sin of taking money which is haram. Sameena, Online response
