Employer detains helpless Pakistanis in Sanaa

MULTAN: “A Yemeni kafil (employer) has detained my elder son and brother-in-law in Sanaa in a factory vault and kept their passports and CNICs, refusing to allow them to returning to the country under the pretext of war and completion of work,” Mehfooz Bibi told The News.
The poor family has no resources to approach the government high-ups to ensure their release, as the Pakistan embassy staff members have also left Yemen, leaving the Pakistani immigrants at the mercy of their employers, while the families cannot access the Pakistani officials.
“Pakistan’s embassy has been closed in Sanaa. We are unable to contact the Pakistani officials,” Muhammad Suhail said.Suhail is a cousin and brother-in-law of Muhammad Suleman. Like other Pakistanis, Suleman too wants to leave the war-torn Yemen but the employer has withheld the immigration documents.
Mehfooz Bibi, 50, lives in Basti Maharanwali on Nawabpur Road. Her son Suleman and brother-in-law Muhammad Siddique had left for Yemen two years back. They are labourers by profession and work at a gold ornaments factory located on Sanaa’s Jola Senan Road.
According to Mehfooz, the employer, Rashid al Saleh, has always paid salary on time but he confiscated their documents under the pretext of war. She had sent Suleman to earn money for completing the under construction home in Maharanwali.
The family members disclosed that at least 11 Pakistanis were employed at the factory and all of them had been detained in the factory after confiscating their documents.They appealed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to ensure release of their family members and said the employer demanded a handsome amount for giving back the immigration documents. He has also demanded finishing the work and paying back the amount incurred on their boarding and lodging. The family managed to contact the detained relatives on Friday last.