No job, no income: So why do expats stay on?
Going home is not an option because of debt and children
Ever wondered how some UAE residents who have lost jobs and have no steady income refuse to pack up and return home? Well, many of them say they have no choice.
‘ My husband was born here. The UAE is our home’
A Pakistani family of five in Dubai are hoping for a miracle to bail them out.
Mehboob Nizamuddin, 48 and Seema Mehboob 37, have four children who are all out of school due to non- payment of fees. Their 18- year old son Fahad dreams of getting back to school one day. “I don’t know when that will happen. But I want to go to school just likemy friends do,” he said
Mehboob, who worked as a driver for a desert tour company, lost his job in 2014. The pandemic has worsened the situation. The family has sold gold jewellery to buy visas so they can stay on in the UAE.
“My husband was born here.
The UAE is our home,” Seema said. The couple now do odd jobs to make end meet. “We have been getting basic grocery supplies from good Samaritans. I teach the Quran and Urdu to children. I don’t charge for teaching the Quran, but people give me whatever they feel like,” she added.
‘ None of us want to leave’
Akhtar Anwar, 30, from Mumbai is in a predicament. His Pakistani wife, Aysha, 24 just delivered their second child. Akhtar was born in
Dubai. It’s an uphill task for the the couple to leave even if they want to. Akhtar cannot send hiswife to India as it is a struggle getting her a visa. The same is the case with him. “It is difficult for me to get a visa to Pakistan. So where do we go? The UAE is home to us,” he said.
Khan, who worked as a public relations officer, lost his job early this year. “Besides my children I have my aged parents with me here in UAE. None of us want to leave and go home.”
Akhtar and his wife are on a visit visa. His parents are on freelance visas. Akhtar’s children don’t have a visa or passport yet. “When I went to get a passport for my older ones, some documents were missing. When they were finally ready, Covid- 19 happened,” he said.
‘ My mother lives in a hut in Tamil Nadu. We are poor’
Sundari Sundarrajan, 39, a widow, said she cannot imagine returning home to India.
“My mother lives in a hut in Tamil Nadu. We are a poor family. My late husband and I came to Dubai looking for opportunities and helping our family back home. Little did I know we would end up in a tough financial situation,” she said, adding that her husband died nine months ago from kidney failure.
“He had a business which failed. I have been living here with my three children. The oldest is in Grade 10. The second child is nine years old and has not been to a school for the last two years.”
‘ My children cannot relate to things back in Sudan’
Sudanese expat Lubna is in a similar state. A divorcee with two children aged 9 and 5, she said she cannot think of returning home.
“My childrenwere born here. This is what they have seen as their home. They cannot relate to things back home in Sudan. I will work hard so I can keep them here,” said Lubna who has lost her job and stationary business.