Goodbye Dear Abdul Majeed: The Subject Of Transferring Sponsorship From The Makkah Man
21 April 2018
By Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi
A few weeks ago, on March 20 to be exact, I canceled all my engagements and
appointments to travel to Jeddah airport to bid adieu to Abdul Majeed, who was
my domestic driver.
Abdul Majeed worked with me for more than 20 years, including 18 years under
my sponsorship. As for the first two years, he was under the sponsorship of
another citizen living in Makkah.
The subject of transferring his sponsorship from the Makkah man to my
sponsorship is a story worth telling. Before hiring him, I had a housekeeper
from Bangladesh. He decided to go back to Bangladesh for good and he brought
Abdul Majeed to me to replace him. I asked him if he had a residency permit (iqama).
I also told him that he should obtain permission from his sponsor in writing
saying that he had no objection in allowing Abdul Majeed to work for me for a
specific period of time. He informed me that the sponsor had agreed to do so
if I made a request in writing.
Eventually, I sent the sponsor a letter asking him to allow Abdel Majeed to
work for me on a probation basis prior to transferring his sponsorship.
Several months after hiring him, I found him suitable for work. Therefore, I
wrote to his sponsor, requesting his consent for transferring sponsorship. I
told the sponsor that in the event of his consent, he should prepare a letter
of release and have it attested by the concerned district official. He delayed
sending the release document, but after continuous contacts, he sent his
consent for the transfer of sponsorship.
I took the release document to the Passport Department and explained to the
concerned officer my desire to transfer the services of Abdul Majeed to my
sponsorship. When I showed him the release document, the officer asked me to
bring the worker's passport in addition to his iqama. Abdul Majeed said that
his passport was with his sponsor and I told him to contact the sponsor and
collect it.
Accordingly, he went to Makkah and met his sponsor but failed to secure his
passport. Subsequently, I contacted the sponsor and told him that since he
agreed to transfer sponsorship he had to return the worker's passport, as it
is a must for the transfer of sponsorship.
Unfortunately, I did not get a response and later he stopped answering my
phone calls. Finally, after several attempts to contact him, I learned that he
had surrendered the passport at the Passport Department after reporting that
Abdul Majeed was a runaway worker (huroob). I asked the sponsor: "How could
you report to the authorities this case as huroob after you prepared a written
release letter and had it attested by the district official?"
I went to the Passport Department in an attempt to retrieve Abdul Majeed's
passport. But I was informed that the passports of runaway workers were
usually sending to the diplomatic missions of the concerned countries through
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Therefore, I approached the ministry's office
in a bid to find the passport. However, I was told that such passports were
sent to the designated diplomatic missions without delay so as to complete the
necessary deportation procedures. Finally, I approached the Indian consulate
in search of Abdul Majeed's passport, but I could not find it there.
At that time, I had a visa for a domestic driver that had been sent to the
Saudi consulate in Mumbai. Therefore, I told Abdul Majeed to travel to India
on final exit and come back on that visa. However, he preferred to return to
his sponsor with the hope that he would help him in solving the problem.
Accordingly, he returned to Makkah but never came back. This prompted me to
believe that he might have solved his problem with a decision to stay with his
sponsor.
However, after one month, one of his friends came to me and said: "Abdul
Majeed ended up in the Deportation Center (Tarheel) and he is asking you to
help him." Immediately, I went to Tarheel and reached the hall where Abdul
Majeed was staying. I managed to meet him at the overcrowded facility and
asked him how he had ended up at Tarheel. He said that while traveling to
Makkah, he was detained and taken to the center after officials detected that
the validity of his iqama had expired.
I felt that he was subjected to injustice by his former sponsor and,
therefore, decided to help him, seeking the pleasure and reward from God. I
spent four days going back and forth to Tarheel, taking up his issue and
meeting a number of officials. At last, fortunately I found an officer whom I
knew very well. I explained to him the case of Abdul Majeed and he at once
lent me a helping hand to solve the problem and subsequently, Abdul Majeed was
deported to India within a week.
After spending several months with his family, he took the visa and came back
to the Kingdom under my sponsorship as a domestic driver. I saw that he was
not good at driving and, therefore, I sent him to the Dallah driving school
where he learned how to drive. He failed the exam two times but passed on the
third attempt.
Abdul Majeed worked for me for 18 years, and he was a decent driver who always
maintained the quality of being patient. He took my children to school all
through their preliminary school to university levels of education. He had
electrical and plumbing skills and was always keen and ready to carry out
simple repair work.
Two months ago, he informed us that he had decided to return to his country to
live with his family for the rest of his life. My family and I tried to
convince him to go on a long vacation and then come back. But he apologized,
and hence we had to accept his decision and give him our best wishes.
I found it my duty to go with him to the airport and my son Muhammad
accompanied us. Muhammad, who is studying in the final year of his university
education, canceled his classes that day to be with me in bidding adieu to our
dear Abdul Majeed.
Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi is a former Saudi diplomat who specializes in Southeast
Asian affairs. He can be reached at algham@hotmail.com
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