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http://arabnews.com/when-work-contract-means-nothing

A Pakistani biomedical technician has taken his employer to court demanding that he be allowed to return to his country to tend to his ailing mother after fulfilling his contract.
Muhammed Taha Riaz, 26, who works for a medical company in Al-Qassim, filed the case three and a half months ago after his employer refused to provide him with an exit visa, forcing him to continue working past the terms of his contract on an expired iqama (residence permit), which has since been taken from him.
Arab News first learned of this case from an e-mail Riaz sent to us pleading for help.
Riaz said in the message: “I signed a contract with Al-Ewan company at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for a period of three years on March 18, 2009. My contract finished on March 18, 2012.
“As per the terms of the contract I advised my employer 60 days prior to its expiration that I wanted to return to Pakistan when the contract expired.
“Again a reminder was sent to them on April 3 expressing my desire to end my contract and leave for my country.”
According to Riaz, March 18 came and went and nothing happened.
“I approached the company manager on several occasions regarding my contract expiry and my travel plans back to my country.
“However he kept on evading me and asked me to come after two weeks and so on.
“Until now it has been three months since my contract has expired and I am in this foreign land and forced to work much against my will and he is threatening me that if I do not report to work, he will hand me over to the police.
“This is causing me a lot of mental tension and I am unable to work in these conditions. This sort of mental harassment should not happen to anyone.”
He appealed to the Pakistani Embassy in Riyadh for help and was referred to the community welfare wing there.
He alleges that he spoke to someone there who has since ignored his calls.
Arab News contacted the community welfare wing and had the same response.
The community welfare officer answered the first phone call and then subsequent calls went unanswered.
An SMS for information was sent to the officer’s number on Tuesday. A reply came hours later that stated: “Sorry, I don’t know anything about Taha (Riaz)”.
There was no return phone call, and a subsequent call went unanswered.
According to Pakistani Embassy press attaché Sohail Khan, this case is “the tip of the iceberg.”
Khan said Wednesday the embassy’s hands are tied in this matter, as the only ones who can release an employee from his contract and provide an exit visa is the sponsor himself or the governor of the region where Riaz works, not the Pakistani Embassy.
He added on Saturday that the embassy would work with Riaz and his sponsor to find a resolution.
Arab News spoke with Al-Ewan’s human resources manager Turki Al-Enzi, who said: “I am aware of the case and that his contract has been fulfilled.
“But, we have a contract with the Ministry of Health that will be renewed soon, but it has not yet been. Once the contract is renewed we will be provided visas that will allow us to bring someone to replace Riaz.
“These are medical services we are providing for real people, services they need for their well-being. We cannot just let him go and not provide these services.”
Al-Enzi said that a replacement for Riaz has been found and that he will be allowed to return to Pakistan in two months.
Riaz responded: “This is not my headache. I fulfilled my contract and gave them 60 days notice before my contract expired, and I want to go home. My mother is sick and I have had enough. This delay has cost me a job in Pakistan that I had waiting for me.
“This is gross injustice done to me by the system here in Saudi Arabia.
“I pray to God that no human being should go through this in his life. Only I know the mental torture I have been undergoing for the past few months.”