Workers still tricked into ‘free visa’ racket

Still, unscrupulous agents lure hundreds of Asian workers into the trap of ‘free visa’ jobs to be caught by the authorities and deported to their respective home countries.

At the same time, some workers find the ‘free visas’ advantageous as they allow them to earn more money, even double the amount they would earn with a single employer.

To avoid being caught, the sponsors, in connivance with their workers, open bank accounts on the pretext that a fixed amount in the form of salary is transferred to these accounts.

The ATM cards of the respective accounts are retained by the sponsors so that they can withdraw the amount later.

Hashim Mubarak, who does household shifting work in Ruwi, says he has an account with a local bank but the ATM card is retained by his sponsor. “Every month his sponsor deposits RO 180 into his account. This money is shown as my salary contrary to what I am paying every month as sponsor fee,” he says.

Recently, the Ministry of Manpower, in cooperation with the Central Bank of Oman, made it mandatory for employers to pay workers’ wages through banks.

With a database in the system in regard to the payment of wages, the ministry will get automatic updates of salary transfers from employers to banks.

Hundreds of workers who have been staying in the country have been rounded up in raids conducted by the ministry sleuths at public places, offices, private organisations as well as specific dwellings where large groups of these workers reside.