Thirty-nine-year-old migrant worker Tek Bahadur Raskoti of Pallikot-4 in Gulmi claims to have been held hostage for the past 16 years in Saudi Arabia.
He told the Post over telephone that he is compelled to look after camels in the desert near Habral Vadim, around 1,000km from Riyadh.
Raskoti said he had been working in treacherous conditions in the desert. He had not received salary for seven years. His employer had agreed to pay him 1,000 riyals every month.
“ If I try to get out of here, they will kill me,” said Raskoti, adding that he doesn’t know the exact location where he is working. According to him, his employer Mandu Nuhab Sammeri’s house is at Hafar Al-Batin.
Raskoti left for Saudi Arabia with the help of Golden International Manpower in Kathmandu in August 2001. “I came here to work at a construction site. But my employer left me in the desert,’ said Raskoti. “Ever since, I have been working day and night, without a chance to go back to Nepal.”
Raskoti’s wife Dhan Kumari told the Post from Gulmi that her brother-in-law had reached Saudi to search for Raskoti, to no avail. She requested the government to bring him back home.
The family has registered a complaint at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Officiating Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Ananda Prasad Sharma said he has written to the Saudi government to rescue him and provide him salary and compensation.
Hom Karki is a reporter with two decades experience covering migrant workers issues and the Nepali diaspora. He was previously based in the Gulf for Kantipur Daily.
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