Benny80

Thanks for sharing your story.

I agree with the other poster regarding apologising (even though you have done nothing wrong). try to smooth things over with the owner and hope you manage to work something out and get whats owed to you.

Irishbeekeeper

so? what happened?
Maybe you can go to the police or go to your embassy and tell them that you are being held hostage against your will?

norsk

I wonder if there are any statistics on how many percent of residents in countries with exit visas are stuck in the country with no legal means to support themselves....

Irishbeekeeper

Country wise? With nationality wise tabs? Wow! Now that would be a difficult stat to get hold of I should reckon. But practically speaking I guess if all the embassies in every exit visa country start sharing their information (which I highly doubt they would) one can sit down and make a table I should think. But even those numbers would be incomplete as most people would not have gone to their respective embassies to file a complaint.

But without that info in hand, I can very safely make an educated guess that 80% of the stuck people would be from South Asia / Africa nations

norsk

I suppose it would have to be very difficult to get hold of especially if people do not report their plight to their respective embassies. Embassies do share other information with human rights groups (such as workers deaths) so I don't see why they wouldn't though...

Absolutely. South Asian and African workers take the brunt of the punishment. They are also the least likely to have support from their embassies and not to mention media about their situation...

I found an organisation called Migrant Rights who have some very interesting stats on domestic workers in the gulf in particular..
Domestic Workers in the Gulf | Migrant-Rights.org

mission

surely the employer cannot ask for back dated salary to be repaid to him? that just doesn't sound right?

i had no idea that Qatar had a strict exit visa policy....that sh*t is scary.

sama1992

Hi

I am in a similar position to you. I am 23 years old. I work in the UK for a successful engineering company currently travelling all over Europe dismantling and reinstalling machinery. My girlfriend is a teacher in Qatar and I'm looking for work so I can be over there with her. Only problem, I don't have an engineering degree. I have had experience working and managing a facilities team, alongside a project manager, in a semi-conductor plant and also have full qualifications in air conditioning.
Is there any advice you could give me of the best way to find a job? I do regularly visit Doha, so if there is a specific place you can suggest I look into, it would be great if you have any further information.

Thank you in advance
Sam

Irishbeekeeper

If you already have a decent job which involves traveling then keep at it mate. You can use that traveling to meet as much as possible. I wouldn't recommend finding a proper job here for now (by here I mean middle east)
It is very hard not to sound cynical or negative but I am willing to bet that they will take the WC away from Doha and the day that happens, everything is going to go double-D sized up!

scot47

Cut your losses and leave.

Tockalosh

The OP's story is dreadful. I wonder if he ever got out. Terrible for a European to be treated like that. Shame it's not the gunboat and maxim gun days of old