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A tough life for an illegal expat
Living in a country other than your own comes with some legal papers that give you permission to reside and work in that country. No doubt it looks all flowery but it all comes with its own restrictions. India has seen a lot of its population migrating to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries for employment. An immigrant has to get himself an employer/sponsor, which will get him his labour card and his visa to travel, stay and work in these countries.
If you know any illegal expats in Oman, read this as it might usher in good tidings for them
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Living in a country other than your own comes with some legal papers that give you permission to reside and work in that country. No doubt it looks all flowery but it all comes with its own restrictions. India has seen a lot of its population migrating to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries for employment. An immigrant has to get himself an employer/sponsor, which will get him his labour card and his visa to travel, stay and work in these countries.
Many people find their way to these countries and overstay their welcome. This makes them illegal immigrants. Now living as an immigrant, one enjoys the privileges that come with it, but living as an illegal immigrant is not only a criminal act, it is also tough lifestyle.
In a similar story, Sakthidasan a local from Tamil Nadu had gotten employment in Oman. There he met Bebi Rani, 28, who also migrated to Oman from Andhra Pradesh to work as a house maid. They fell in love and decided to live together. After a year they got their first child who was physically handicapped. After three years they got another child and this effected Bebi’s health and she has been facing trouble walking ever since.
By this time they had overstayed their visas and had all become undocumented expats living in Oman. Bebi lost her passport with no photo copy of it even in her home town. Now they were facing problems as they couldn’t roam about in the country freely and worse so, they couldn’t go to a hospital to get themselves properly treated.
"For the last two years, she(Bebi Rani) could not walk. She needs medicines worth OMR8 daily. We became undocumented, too. So, life became horrible. I had to take care of my children and Bebi," Sakthidasan said. A youtube video by the Times Oman shows how Sakthidasan regretted taking the decision of living the life of an illegal immigrant.
It not only chains you down taking away all your freedom, basic necessities also is not anywhere in your reach. Oman had conducted an amnesty programme for illegal expats to exit the country without having to pay a fine or face legal charges in 2010 and over 60,000 people had exited the country.
Oman reintroduced this program on May 3 and it will go on till July 31 and they are expecting over 50,000 people to exit the country. Sakthidasan with Bebi Rani and their children have made their way back home owing to this programme.
By:Johnson D’Souza
