Lifetime ban keeps man away from his family

DUBAI An Indian expat who flew back home before taking up a new job in the UAE is now unable to return to his family in Ajman because of a lifetime ban on his entry.

Prasad Devassy, 31, was handed his passport only in February after a protracted legal battle with a Sharjah-based company where he worked for about three years.

“My visa had long expired and I had no choice but to fly back home to Surat, leaving behind my wife and four-year-old daughter,” the chemical engineer said from his hometown in India.

Joy turns sour

Devassy says he got a job offer from a Jebel Ali company within days but his joy turned sour when the Dubai travel agency processing his visa told him that he can’t enter the UAE as his name has been blacklisted and there’s a lifetime ban on him. “It was a bolt from the blue. I have done no wrong,” said Devassy whose wife and daughter are now on their own in the UAE. “I am separated from my family and I feel miserable. My daughter is still small and needs me,” said Devassy, who is urging the authorities to review his status and allow him back into the country.

“I worked diligently till the last day of my contract and this is what I got in return. I am being kept away from my family for no fault,” said Devassy, who suspects his former company’s hand behind the ban. Devassy, who resigned last April, claims he was kept in the country against his will by his employers for months without pay.

XPRESS reported Devassy’s plight last May when he had alleged the company was forcing him to sign an extension of his two-year contract. Devassy said when he refused, he was held at ‘ransom’. “They held my salary and end of service benefits. I was left with no option but to move court. Who would’ve thought my previous company would get me banned for life,” he said.

YOUSPEAK: What can be done to prevent exploitation by employers?