Four Pakistani workers have been stranded in Saudi Arabia without pay and accommodations for years as their health begins to deteriorate, the Arab Times reported - Opens in new tabtoday.
The workers, Muhammad Aslam, Waris Hussain, Abdul Aziz Shakir and Khaled Parvez worked at a factory of a Saudi company in Jeddah. 11 years ago the owner of the factory died and his son moved away from Jeddah, leaving the workers penniless, and without work and electricity in the factory. According to the son, he cannot afford to pay the workers. Within the next 60 days the Saudi Industrial Development Fund will auction off the factory, but the outstanding debt of over 20 Million Saudi Rials (over $500,000) is making investors wary of buying the factory.
Shakir, one of the workers, says that they haven't received their salary in years as they continued to live in the abandoned factory. All he and his fellow workers wish is to receive their unpaid wages for their work so they can go home. Shakir told the Arab Times that “we're old people and cannot support our families in Pakistan. We are under great stress and are worried for our children, who were forced out of school because we could not pay the fees. Our daughters can't get married because they need money."