Hyderabad: Smuggled to Saudi from Kuwait, Telangana’s Rathod Namdev sends SOS; Centre launches rescue efforts

Hyderabad: When Rathod Namdev boarded a flight to Kuwait in October 2023 in search of livelihood, little did he know what was in store for him after reaching the Gulf nation.

Ten months later, the 50-plus-year-old Rathod, hailing from Mudhole village in the Nirmal district of Telangana, is pleading with the Indian government to rescue him and fly him back to his country.

Delhi-based licensed recruiting agency had told Rathod that he would work as a domestic helper (housekeeping) job in Kuwait. He completed all the required formalities to obtain a visa for working in Kuwait. However, his dream came crashing down when his Kuwaiti employer retracted from the original deal.

Rathod was made to cross the border illegally to Saudi Arabia and was given the job of a camel herder in the land belonging to his employer. And camel herding in scorching desert heat where temperatures hover over 45 degrees C and above.

In a selfie video that he shot recently and tagged to Telangana CM's X handle, he highlighted his miseries and poor working conditions that took a toll on his health.

Telangana government and the NRI Cell of Telangana Congress swung into action and have reached out to the External Affairs Ministry in New Delhi already. Anil Eravathri, Chairman, Telangana Mineral Development Corporation, and Mandha Bheem Reddy, Migrant Rights Activist and Convenor, TPCC NRI Cell accompanied by Rathod's wife and son, on Monday, met the Protector of Emigrants (PoE), an office of the External Affairs Ministry wing located in Secunderabad, Telangana. They were informed that the Indian government has reached out to embassies in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to rescue the Indian national. The recruiting agency in New Delhi was also served a notice to this effect.

Bheem Reddy told Newsmeter that external affairs ministry officials themselves were shocked and in disbelief looking at this case.

"This is nothing but cross-border manpower smuggling and international human trafficking of Indian nationals under the guise of employment in the Gulf. Rathod's case might be the tip of the iceberg as we suspect hundreds might have been illegally transported across the border. Ultimately Rathod might be rescued and sent back home in the coming days, but we want this issue to be highlighted in a big way so that neither the employer nor the recruiting agents here dare to commit such illegal acts that risk lives," Bheem Reddy said.

Generally, people from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Yemen, Egypt, and African nations are posted as Camel herders. People from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have close connections and marriages are common which is why they have properties and lands across the border. Rathod's employer too has some land and properties adjoining the Kuwait and Saudi Arabia border. However, he took the wrong route hoodwinking even the Kuwait authorities to transport an Indian national on a Kuwait working visa to another nation violating all rules and norms, Bheem Reddy said.