Hopes of 22 Indian engineers for their early departure from Saudi Arabia were dashed Sunday after the Labor Office here declined to hear their case. The engineers have been stranded after their company refused to accept them as its employees, recruited by a travel agency in India. They arrived on the Saudi work visas endorsed under the Saudi company's name some 10 months ago. However, the company that deals in telecommunication reportedly said its visas were stolen and the matter was referred to the police for investigation. Since their arrival in Riyadh the Indian engineers have been living without legal document and are afraid to be caught by the police. They have confined themselves to accommodation provided by members of the Indian community. They hardly have money for food. Their basic demand after the company's refusal to offer them employment was to go back home on exit visa. “After months of waiting in despair we were optimistic for a solution from hearing in our case. The Labor Office, last week gave us date (Sunday) as the first hearing in our case,” said Afroze Khan, one of the engineers. He said the Labor Office refused to entertain a hearing because of “visa forgery” case that does not fall under its jurisdiction. Instead, it referred the case to the concerned Saudi authorities such as Passports Department or the Deportation Center.
