A man from Barry has revealed what it was like to be stuck for Saudi Arabia for 18 months where he was registered as a runaway in the country. Wayne Wheadon had been working in the Middle Eastern kingdom since 2012.
He initially travelled to the country to work for a British contractor to install a roof on the new airport in the port city of Jeddah as a logistics and material manager. But after four years the contractor went into receivership leaving the Saudi sponsors to take over the project.
For a British citizens like Wayne there are complex requirements for entering and exiting Saudi Arabia. Your invitation to the country is provided by a sponsor, which is normally your employer.
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Your sponsor will also arrange your Iqama, which means residency permit. They are also responsible for your welfare and conduct during your stay in the kingdom. If you break the terms of your visa your sponsor may be fined heavily and may pass these fines on to you.
Wayne worked for the Saudi company from January 2018 to October 2019 until the project ran out of money. To make matters worse the coronavirus pandemic began a few months later in early 2020. "I went for eight months not receiving any salary," Wayne said. "My boss hadn’t paid the rent in my compound, I had no money coming in, and people at the compound were evicting me.
'I took the job as a means of survival'
"On top of that I had no contact with my boss. I couldn’t leave the country and couldn’t get an exit visa to leave. I had to pay myself to renew my own working visa to be legal. And then I started court proceedings to pay the money.
"Further to that I eventually had to leave where I lived and went to another compound where I was for six months. It was then that I decided I wanted to go back to the UK. My lawyers were very good and following the court proceedings they told me I didn't need to be in the country anymore as my case had been won. I could leave the kingdom and the money could be forwarded to my British bank account."
But Wayne was advised by the owner of his new compound not to leave before he received the payment. Instead they offered Wayne to work for them and as a "means of survival", Wayne agreed to it.
"They knew about my situation and why I was there," Wayne said. "I went to work for this new boss, basically for pocket money, for rent-free and with a free car. Bearing in mind I was 18 months into nothing – I was quite happy to have those things and essentially work for pocket money.
"I took it as a means of survival. He gave me a written job offer and there were a few things in the job offer – one in particular was that every six months I could get a two-week vacation and a free flight to the UK.
"During the process then they were meant to transfer my work permit, which took a long time. They needed to upload a copy of my contract online, which is a legal practice in Saudi. They upload the contract and then you accept the contract on a government website.
"He uploaded the first contract and I rejected it as it didn't match the initial job offer. It offered the wrong amount of vacation days a year and they had fiddled with the salary they agreed to pay me – they had cut the salary by a third in the contract.
"They then did the second one and changed a few bits and pieces and I rejected it again. By this time the workplace had developed in a very toxic atmosphere – something I have never experienced in my life."
'I really wanted to see my family'
Although Wayne said he decided to endure the difficult situation his world turned upside-down when a long-awaited holiday back home was refused. Wayne said: "My boss messaged me and said that the vacation was cancelled and I was not entitled to holidays.
"This was seven months into the job and I hadn’t been home in two years. My wife had given up her work to come and live with me but when she went back home to see the grandkids Covid happened and she never got back to Saudi.
"I really wanted to see my family and this holiday meant everything to me. The kids had organised a coming home party. I’d turned 60 while I was there and they had planned a late 60th birthday party for me. They booked a weekend away in a caravan with them and the grandkids and then this happened. I decided to resign there and then – I was so angry.
" It was a horrendous place to work – we had grown men crying to us saying that they hadn’t been home in four years. They wouldn’t give them holidays. There was a Filipino lad whose mother had passed away while he was there and he wasn’t able to go home to see her."
Wayne claims that everything went well following the announcement of his resignation in autumn of 2021. Aware of Wayne's court case with the previous job and that he was awaiting money the company agreed to extend Wayne's visa. But the visa extension never came and Wayne was potentially facing a three-year ban from Saudi Arabia.
"I sent them an email and got no reply," Wayne said. "I sent them a couple of texts and then I realised that my number had been blocked. By now they had blocked my email and my number. I couldn't get my head around what was happening because I thought there had been no bad feelings between us. Literally the day before they had sent me a message saying along the lines of: 'We are on your side' and so on.
"That's when my family got involved and my daughter told me to put all the family, who ran the company, in a WhatsApp group chat, send a message, and it would document that the message had been read. I sent a message – all four of the family members opened it, read it, and instantly left the group. My daughter did the same thing on her phone and the exact same thing happened to her.
"Because of this visa and the fact that I couldn’t get hold of anyone I went online to check whether my application was in the green or in the red. If it’s in the red you can’t issue a new visa. That’s when I went online and discovered that the family had registered me as a runaway, which is the worst thing that can happen."
'I had very serious problems'
As indicated in the word a 'runaway' is someone that runs away from their employer in Saudi Arabia, which is called a huroob in the kingdom. Usually a huroob is taken as an intentional action by the employee and there can be serious consequences imposed on the individual.
Such consequences include your Saudi residency permit or Iqama being cancelled even if it hasn't expired yet. It would be illegal for an individual to stay in Saudi Arabia and the individual would have to leave the kingdom through a deportation centre.
For Wayne he knew he had "very serious problems" on his hands and he instantly got in contact with his lawyers but their request to lift his huroob was rejected. Soon after Wayne's laywers started a case against the family but they were faced by another blow.
Wayne said: "Going back to October 2021 when I was leaving the company and had handed my notice in: while I was handing in my work phone and laptop to them they made me sign a paper saying that I had been paid everything that I was owed and I couldn't after this date take any legal proceedings.
"On the paper I wrote that I had all the money up until August but was still outstanding, listed those items and their value that were outstanding. I signed and gave it back but they said I couldn't write on it, I could only sign, it as they wouldn't issue a visa for me to go home.
"So I signed it but asked them to give me a copy via email. The first thing they handed in court was this piece of paper saying that I had received everything and I couldn't start any court proceedings against them. I was angry beyond words because then it confirmed what a vile bunch of people that I was dealing with."
Desperate and frustrated Wayne quickly got in contact with the British Embassy in the kingdom, whom he described as "abysmal". "They offered no help," he added.
"All they said was that I should hire a lawyer as the embassy doesn't get involved in legal disputes. I was devastated – I thought I would speak to them and we could sort it out but it didn’t happen that way. Bearing in mind for the first few years I was in Saudi I would attend events at the embassy nearly every month."
'I didn't tell my wife or anyone that I was coming home'
With the aid of friends and family Wayne managed to get in contact with the British Embassy in Qatar as well as Alun Cairns MP, Jane Hutt MS, the UK Government foreign secretary, and the Home Office in the UK who were able to assist him. The British Embassy at the kingdom began to correspond with Wayne's lawyers. After weeks of trying to overturn the huroob Wayne was told to go over to the immigration office.
He said: "For some time my lawyers had been going back and forth from the labour office in Saudi to gain assurance that I wouldn't be handcuffed or arrested. I was in the immigration office and they said to me: 'We will release you if you have a lifetime ban'. And I said: 'Release me' because at this point I just wanted to go home to my family.
"I asked if there were any fines or anything and they said no – there were no fines. This is rife in Saudi. I know people that have suffered a similar fate to the same company. As a country to live in it's amazing and beautiful, you feel safe – I could leave my phone and wallet on the table and they wouldn't be stolen. But making a deal with certain companies – they'll rip your heart out."
Wayne's huroob has not been revoked. Despite this Wayne has since returned to his hometown of Barry in June and said he was greeted with an "amazing" reunion with his family. "I didn’t tell my wife or anyone that I was coming home because I was in that much fear that anything could go wrong," he added. "I literally just knocked on the door.
"There was no way I could tell them I was coming home and then face the upset of me not leaving. I decided the easiest way of doing it was to get out of the country, get home, and know I was home when I was there.
"I’ve been away since 2012 and obviously I’ve only really come back for five weeks. It’s very cold and wet here but I’m home and that’s what matters. The family were amazed – they couldn’t believe it. Without my kids' intervention I might still be there. It was a very emotional reunion.
"Upon reflection I’ve come to realise I was involved in a sting – the company knew I had money coming to me from a previous employer, they knew I was about to leave, they basically sucked me in to taking a job with them and once they knew I had the money they registered me as a runaway and then tried to demand some money just for me to leave the country.
"I feel like I can’t give up on the fight – I have to help the people there that might find themselves in the same situation. This won’t stop now with me – this is still going on and I feel like I have a responsibility to help people."
In response to Wayne's claims about the British Embassy in Saudi Arabia a spokesman for the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office said: "We provided consular support to a British national in Saudi Arabia."
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