Dubai: Clifford Joseph Rebello (54) has reportedly been stranded in Dubai without money or passport since July 2014 after his employer illegally terminated his employment. Originally from Kankanady, Mangaluru, he had settled in Mumbai with this wife, his son (8) and his ailing mother (82) before moving to Dubai to earn a living. According to the averments in a mail dated October 9, 2019, addressed to Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishanker, Union External Affairs Minister by a social activist based in Dubai, Clifford Joseph’s employer Coppins Holdings illegally terminated his employment, never paid his wages and also withheld his passport.
Clifford then appealed to the Dubai Court of First Instance, which allowed his claim and awarded him a settlement amount of AED 67,000 in Nov 2017, which included back wages; since the amount was not paid to the court by his employer, and his overtime was also not calculated in the order made by the Dubai Court of First Instance, he appealed to the Dubai Court of Appeals which allowed his appeal in Nov 2018 and ordered a revised compensation of AED 90,041/-. The total compensation due according to the court order including court fees now is AED 93191, (INR 18,01,235). The amount was ordered to be deposited in the Court by 27 March this year for onward transmission to Clifford along with his Passport in a settlement of his dues.
It has transpired that, instead of paying the dues as ordered by the court, the erstwhile employer has been threatening Clifford and ‘sending him feelers’ to leave the country. This is at a time when Clifford has no money and is living a hand to mouth existence with the help of a few friends.
Where once he was hoping to return home after getting the dues, he is now wandering around asking for charity. Some friends have, from time to time, been helping him as much as they can, Clifford feels he is running out of time and help. He told the activist that he has been receiving threats to leave the country or face torture if he remains. He told the activist that, if this continues, he will be driven to take the ultimate step.
In the meanwhile, according to the activist, who is in touch with him in the UAE, Clifford had appealed to the Indian Embassy and had recently written to H.E. Pawan Kapoor narrating his plight and requesting legal help from the Embassy. His request letter was written to the Ambassador and copied to R. Rajamurugan, Dinesh Kumar, Attache Rajhans Baluni, Labour Consul, Javed, Community Affairs and most of the departments he could notify as far as possible. According to Clifford, no action was taken until last week when he got a call from Ramesh Chander, Community Affairs on October 6 (apparently after the activist met the Embassy officials regarding his plight) asking the whereabouts of his employer. According to the mail addressed to the External Affairs Minister by the activist, Clifford immediately sent all available details to the Community Affairs of the Embassy after which they have assured him to look into the matter.
He has not been able to meet his family since he left Mumbai on July 2014. He is requesting the Indian Government to intervene so that he may get his rightful dues. The activist, on Clifford’s behalf, has requested that the Mangalorean community come forward and provide him with legal help in getting his dues as well as monetary assistance to return to his family.
