::Stranded Boy Seeks HelP ::

Todays Gulf Times ....

A SIX-YEAR-OLD boy yesterday sought the help of the Indian embassy for repatriation to his hometown in Kerala after being stranded in Qatar for more than two years.

The boy, identified as A Asju, had come to Qatar on a visit visa along with his mother Subeida to join his father, Ajmal Ajumon, working as a driver with the Karwa company.
A relative of his father, who did not want to be identified, brought the boy to the Indian embassy. The boy is staying with him now.

Ajumon sent his wife home towards the end of 2006 after she became pregnant. He had to pay a huge fine to the Immigration Department for her unauthorised stay after the expiry of her visit visa.

According to a representation submitted to the embassy, the boy had also accumulated a fine of QR7,680 for his overstaying until December 2006. The fine outstanding since then is not known to the relative.

The boy told embassy officials that his father did not have enough money to send him home. He said he had not met his little sister who is almost 15 months now.
His father’s relative said Asju could not attend any school as he had no resident visa.

Community sources said the boy’s father was in police custody for more than a month now on a visa related complaint, filed against him by a person whom he had reportedly brought to Qatar.

The boy’s family comes from Varkala in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram district.