‘All I want is to return to my country’

Manama : Being separated from your kids is one of the hardest things any parent can go through. Fate couldn’t have dealt a more cruel blow to Ghanaian national Emmanuel who never got a chance to see his son alive.

When his son died, he was in Bahrain. He wanted to  leave. But fate, in the form of work commitments, forced him take a hard decision. And he stayed. What else the poor man could have done? It has been two years since then. 

Even after living through such great deal of sufferings, all he asks his sponsor now is to grant him  his leave and his passport so that he can visit his family. “I was not able to go to Ghana when my son was born or when he died, I never saw him. I never asked for a leave because there was a lot of work at the company. I only asked him about returning to Ghana after completing two years at the company. Yet the sponsor refused and asked me to continue working,” he said.

Emmanuel came to Bahrain in 2014 and joined a moving service company in July 2014. Eventhough his contract with the sponsor ended on August 15, he was forced to work for the company.

Details about the case was revealed during a press conference organised by Migrant Workers Protection Society(MWPS) yesterday. 

“He was forced to work even though his contract had ended. He was only paid till August and when he asked for the settlement it was not given. So he went to file a complaint at Labour Ministry which angered the sponsor,” MWPS Chairperson Marietta Das said, adding that though Emmanuel won the case at the court, the sponsor has not still returned his passport.

In a fix 

Emmanuel’s case is complicated according to Marietta Das.  “He cannot visit the police station as his visa has expired. Since he won the court case, he was asked to go to the police station and give the case details. But if he goes to the police station now he will get arrested because of his visa status. The same situation happened to his colleague George, who got arrested and is now in the Hidd Detention centre. So as of now there is no clear cut solution for him at all,” she said. 

Emmanuel came to Bahrain with the help of his friend George who worked at the same company.

“George also faced issues at the company. He filed a case against the sponsor to get his passport back. Another person, Muhammed, also completed his contract and wanted to go back but the sponsor refused to let him leave,” MWPS Action Committee head Evone Bhaskaran said.

Emmanuel said he wants to go back to Ghana as soon as possible. “I want my passport back so I can go back to Ghana. I do not mind working there, even though I get only BD100 as salary I am content with it. I even told my sponsor that I am ready to extend my contract and continue working as long as he grants me leave,” he laments.