22/03/2021
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HOME / LATEST NEWS / NEWS / WILL I BE ABLE TO FIGHT MY UAE WAGE THEFT CASE IN INDIA?
Will I be able to ght my UAE wage theft case in India?
Christopher at his newly-built house in Vizhinjam, a coastal village in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India, on March 20, 2021.
Chirstopher Shaji, a 46-year-old Indian civil engineer, is ghting a case in the UAE for his unpaid salary and other bene ts after
being laid off by his company. The company had cited fund crunch due to COVID-19 outbreak
Rejimon Kuttappan
If I fail my wage theft case in the United Arab Emirates, will I be able to ght the same here in India? India has signed many
treaties with the UAE. Why can’t they sign a treaty to handle such wage theft cases too?
We know that India and UAE have collaboration in certain judicial matters. Why can’t they have the same in wage theft cases
too?
Why can’t the Indian Ministry of External Affairs intervene? It’s not only my case, there are thousands of Indians laid off in a
similar situation following the COVID-19 outbreak.
I migrated to UAE in 2002. I am a Civil Engineer. I worked in an oil company for four years. Then moved to an engineering
consultancy rm. Worked there for four years. And then moved to this present company in 2010.
When I joined this company, it had some 13,000 migrant workers. Since 2017, following the death of one of its partners, it was
falling into trouble. And now, the company has only around 2,000 workers.
Majority to workers were laid off post-COVID-19. Poor blue-collar workers were forced to quit country after agreeing for 1/10th
of their unpaid salary.
Almost all blue-collar workers had agreed for the company’s decision and left the country. A few are staying back in hope that
they will get their unpaid salary.
In 2020 February, I came home (India) for an emergency. Unfortunately, as the lockdown was announced surprisingly due to the
COVID-19 outbreak, I couldn’t travel back. At that time, my six-month salary was pending. After the complete lockdown was
lifted, when the company restarted its operations in June 2020, I worked online. And in July 2020, when I ew back, I was told
to resign.
I was surprised to hear that. They told me that company has suffered losses due to the COVID-19 impact and they are laying off
workers.
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