I am a European woman living in Dubai and I need help from anyone out there. This is a genuine message and is not a scam. I know people have heard these stories hundreds if not thousands of times. There are many people out there that are like me and really have nowhere to turn. I’m at a point where I just want to get my story out there, I want to be heard and maybe if someone can help then perhaps sharing this was not such a bad idea after all. I’ve tried going to the local newspapers here in Dubai, I got no response from them. When I finally got a chance to speak to a reporter, this is what he said after I shared my story with him “What’s so special about your situation, there are many people out there like you, it’s not newsworthy”. Honestly, call me naïve but I wasn’t expecting that. After all, this is a personal experience, its happened to me, its ruined my life and I have nowhere to turn.
So here it is:
I was working for a company in 2007 here in Dubai, my employer had for several months not paid my salary, after threats of going to the labor department to report them, I came to know from a colleague of mine that they had put up a case against me for forgery (something I didn’t do!). I went to the police station and gave my statement where they took my passport and said I would get it back once the case was closed. It took over 3 years for my case to appear in front of a judge. By then, my passport had expired and my employment visa as well.
During this time, I had a car loan as well as two credit cards. The banks of course put up a case against me at the police for not paying although I had told them that I was unable to work because of the police case I had against me. In any case, after waiting for 3 long years, I got sentenced in 2010 and got a guilty verdict. Luckily, I only had to pay a fine of 3,000 dhs. After the case was over, I tried to get my passport back from the police but the banks had already blacklisted me at the police and obviously I was unable to get my passport which basically means that I can’t work to pay off my debts or even earn a living.
My only identification that I have left is my drivers license which expired last October. I have now no valid identification so I can’t even go to a hospital if I have a medical emergency. My consulate will not issue me a new passport until I give them the old one back, as they are aware of my case.
I have managed to negotiate with one of the banks and pay an installment every month so that they can release their case at the police. What is pending is two credit cards. The outstanding on both credit cards is 35,000dhs. Unfortunately, I can’t get borrow this amount from anyone. I have a few friends that have been very supportive throughout this whole ordeal and they are the ones that paid for my lawyer, pay my rent and give me money to survive every month and they do not have the means to loan me 35,000 dhs. They have really exhausted all their money trying to help me survive for the last 4 years.
I have tried calling everyone for help, My consulate has flatly refused to provide me with any financial assistance. There is even an anonymous organization connected with my consulate that helps people in need here in Dubai and they too can not help either. I have called charity organizations, government offices and even shelters but no one is willing to help. I get the standard answer that there are many people out there with these kinds of problems. And I do understand that, but what do I do? I am desperate to get my life back and really don’t know what else to do at this point. My mother passed away last year which was traumatizing in itself and I was of course unable to travel for the burial. And I’m sitting here wasting away, passing time and wishing for a miracle. I hope someone out there is reading this and can help me.