The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Gulf returnees fear bleak prospects

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Sunday, Nov 04, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Gulf returnees fear bleak prospects

Staff Reporter

Early deportation denies time to repay debts

Wither livelihood: Some of the labourers from Nizamabad district who were expelled from Dubai at a breakfast joint at Adilabad.

ADILABAD: A wide economic gulf seems to be the immediate fate of the 74 labourers from Karimnagar, Nizamabad and Adilabad districts who returned home on Saturday having been expelled from Dubai. Some of these persons from Nizamabad district feared bleak prospects back home when they spoke to The Hindu here during a brief halt while coming from Nagpur airport, their disembarkation destination.

“None of us has had any work since the last six months. We were driven out of our residential premises by the Dubai government. Our employers deprived us of wages once our stay became untenable,” revealed Dandugula Gangadhar of Pippiri village in Armoor mandal of Nizamabad. “Maku bhayamga undi (we are scared),” said Somsetty Narsimlu of Lingaipalli in Kamareddy mandal. “Debts face us hard in the face as we return home now,” he explained.

Markanti Yellaiah of Pendurthi in Bhiknoor mandal however, saw some hope in the government’s efforts to offer the Gulf returnees proper employment. “Choodala yemaithado (let’s see what is in store),” he pondered.

The workers had gone to Dubai after paying amounts ranging between Rs. 60,000 and Rs. 75,000 to ‘brokers’ who arranged for visit visas. Lands and other valuables were pledged for such money by the Gulf aspiring workers. Many of the young returnees had gone to the Gulf only a few months before the crackdown on illegal workmen began there. This denied them sufficient time for earning money for repayment of debts. Twenty-four of the returnees were taken to Karimnagar via Chandrapur by Adilabad Deputy Tahsildar Rajender Singh. The State government facilitated the travel of the expelled workers.

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