The 47-year-old Neela Yellaiah had left Chinthamanpalli village in Kamareddy District, Telangana in 2004 to pursue a job as a labourer in a construction company in Dubai. But due to unknown reasons, he was forced to quit the job. Although unemployed, Yellaiah could not fly back home to India. With his travel documents and passport withheld by the construction company that never cared enough to return them, he was left penniless and stranded in the Middle East. Shuttling between Dubai and Sharjah to earn a livelihood, he resorted to doing odd jobs and the nightmare lasted 16 years.
During his time away, Yellaiah suffered partial memory loss due to severe mental and physical strain and also lost contact with his wife and other family members. One of his nephews, who had gone to Sharjah for work, only spotted a struggling Yellaiah by chance. Nella Yellaiah’s saviour came in the form of a Jain Seva Mission social service volunteer, Rupesh Mehta. He assisted the stranded migrant in getting a temporary passport from the Consulate General of India, Dubai.
According to present UAE immigration regulations, those residing illegally in the country following the expiration of their visa are to pay a fine of 25 UAE Dirhams (500) per day, In Yellaiah’s case this would translate to an ungodly amount of 1.46 lakh Dirhams (29 lakh). With the intervention from NRI support groups and the Indian Embassy, the UAE authorities agreed to waive off the fine.
Yellaiah finally reunited with his loved ones – his wife who broke into tears at the sight of her husband and his daughter, who was a toddler when he left,is now a mother herself. To avoid causing Yellaih further mental and emotional strain, he has also been granted home isolation.
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