Chandigarh, April 12: Duped by travel agents in the name of work visa, one youth from Bholath has been missing from Dubai for the last five months while another 27 Punjabi youths have been allegedly trapped in UAE and Saudi Arabia for several weeks now.
Chief spokesperson for AAP Harjot Singh Bains in a letter to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has urged her to intervene in the matter so that no valuable life is lost. He said the youths had sent some videos showing their pitiable plight in the foreign land.
The family of the missing youth, Khushwinder Singh, resident of Bholath, Kapurthala, said while they were trying their level best to search for him, they had got no help from the Punjab government or the police.
His sister Satinderjit Kaur Taggar said the police had not even registered an FIR against the accused travel agent. “My brother had gone to Dubai in May last year through a Ludhiana-based travel agent, who assured that he would get a lucrative job soon. However, my brother learnt after two months in Dubai that he had not received requisite papers as promised and is missing since November.”
Taggar said the agent had since then gone into hiding. “We suspect foul play as my brother was upset when he was told he will have to go back. He talked to us last on November 14, 2017.”
Harjot Singh Bains told The Tribune that most of the 27 trapped youths were from Nawanshahar, especially Banga. He said four youths belonging to Himachal Pradesh were also trapped in UAE and Saudi Arabia.
He said, “Ï have sent the list of the youths with their passport numbers to the External Affairs Minister. All the youths were promised well-paying jobs and long work visa but they have been taken for a ride. They are now being treated as slaves by their employers who have confiscated their passports also.”
Bains said though the families of the trapped youths had approached the Punjab government, but they had got no relief so far.
Source: http://www.tribuneindia.com
