Dubai: An Indian expat said he fears for his family’s wellbeing due to legal problems which have left them in limbo.
Jalaludeen Ebrahim, 48, said he has no job or money to support his wife and three children since an absconding case was filed against him in 2010 in Abu Dhabi.
He added that their visas have expired and he is unable to renew them.
Ebrahim, who was employed by a car rental firm, claims he never absconded and was not notified of the complaint. He said he is owed a salary and was verbally laid off before the company was sold.
He added that he has received job offers from government and private establishments in the UAE but is unable to process employment formalities because of the case.
“It’s been three years of living in uncertainty and fear, I don’t have a dirham left,” said Ebrahim, from Chennai, India.
“I can’t imagine what will happen to my family if I’m deported. I want to at least clear my name, I’m not an absconder. I want justice, not charity, so I can make an honest living again.”
He said an Abu Dhabi court acknowledged that he had not received a salary and end-of-service dues and could not collect them as his complaint for entitlement in the labour court was filed too late.
The family now lives in a room in a villa in Dubai’s Rashidiya area. Ebrahim said they sold jewellery and other belongings to make ends meet but “now there’s nothing left.”
He owes around Dh4,400 in unpaid rent for two months and about Dh25,000 in outstanding school fees.
“What if we get kicked out, where will we go? My children have already lost a lot of school time, I can’t bear to see them out of school. Some well-wishers from the Malayalam [south Indian] community had helped us survive.
“This is the third Ramadan in a row we’ve spent like this. If we don’t get help in Ramadan — the month of piety and caring — who will help us afterwards? I wish government officials would reopen and reinvestigate my case so that I’m proved innocent.”
He added: “I’ve lived in the UAE since 1996 without committing a single crime. I’m a family man who works hard. I’m not absconding — I’m right here.”
