R. Ramesh Kumar is seen on his hospital bed, just before leaving for India. (Courtesy photo)NOT every expatriate is fortunate enough to pursue his dream for a better future after arriving in Saudi Arabia on employment visa. That was exactly what happened with R. Ramesh Kumar, a 28-year-old expatriate Indian, who was hospitalized for third degree burns in a fire accident, only days after his arrival in the Kingdom on an employment visa. Kumar, an unskilled worker, was recruited to work as a shepherd at a farm in Sakaka, some 1,250 kilometers from Riyadh. After arriving in September last year, Kumar was making tea for his sponsor when the accident occurred. The sponsor immediately rushed Kumar to a nearby hospital, where he was admitted in a serious condition. The saddest aspect of the story is that Kumar could hardly speak any other language except his native Hindi. He had bought the work visa from an Indian recruiting agent and paid a whopping Indian rupees 100,000 (about SR8,000) before coming to work in Saudi Arabia. The timely treatment that Kumar has received saved his life, although not before the accident left him completely depressed. After spending three months in hospital, Kumar had no idea what to do and who to approach for help. It was at that time that Haneef Thozhupadam, who represents the India Fraternity Forum (IFF), a social organization that reaches out to destitute Indian workers, intervened. Thozhupadam said Kumar was in a state of depression due to his severe burn injuries and his only worry was to return home and see his parents. “Most of the time Kumar used to cry, remembering his old parents. His (Kumar's) only request was to arrange for his departure from Saudi Arabia,” said the social worker. Thozhupadam said he faced much difficulty in trying to send Kumar back home, mostly because the Indian worker had no iqama (residence permit) and his passport was with the sponsor, who was proving to be very difficult to trace. After a long struggle, Thozhupadam, the employee of a décor shop in Sakaka said he managed to get a copy of Kumar's passport, which he then sent to the Indian Embassy in Riyadh for an emergency certificate (EC). In the meantime, he said his efforts to find Kumar's sponsor worked. The sponsor agreed to deport Kumar on the exit-only visa. Thozhupadam said Kumar was recruited on a monthly salary of SR1,200 but he hardly received any wages due to his incapacity to work. However, his sponsor was kind enough to pay SR1,250, which Kumar kept for his further treatment in India. “We raised funds to buy Kumar's air ticket and arranged his departure from Sakaka on a flight to Lucknow, a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh,” he said and Kumar safely reached India on March 31. Thozhupadam said helping the destitute Kumar with all the paperwork for his final departure was a challenge and Kumar's treatment needed to be continued. His doctors had asked him to undergo further treatment for a full recovery from the burns. “Kumar is an unskilled worker and a destitute person. He is already indebted, because he paid a huge amount of money for buying the Saudi work visa. We, as a social organization in cooperation with the Indian Embassy in Riyadh and hospital authorities in Sakaka, did what we could have done and wish Kumar a better future life,” said Thozhupadam.
