Serikali saidia: Kenyan family seeks help after a run in with the UAE Laws

A Kenyan man and his family living in Dubai is requesting the Government’s intervention to have their passports released by the Dubai authorities. This follows the confiscation of their passports by their landlord.

Mwaura Muteria’s family passports were confiscated after they accrued rent arrears of over Ksh1.5 million. Having stayed in Dubai for 11 years, the family tried to plead for leniency but the Dubai authorities did not listen.

Muteria narrated that trouble started in 2016 when an Organization he was working for terminated his contract as project manager.

With the hope of getting another job, Muteria and his family continued living in Dubai, accruing their rent debt.

The landlord filed a criminal case against Muteria while he was in Kenya and when he returned to Dubai, he was arrested.

“I pleaded guilty and prayed to be released against my passport so that I could look for a job and start paying the money owed to the landlord.

Muteria has, however, not been fortunate enough to get a job in the last three years.

“Though we had paid part of our rent in cash, the landlord told me that all legal expenses and the returned cheques must be paid in full before he withdraws the case and travel ban on my name,” he stated.

Muteria added their residence visas are expiring this week, which means they might be forced to pay immigration overstay fines of up to Ksh2,000 per day unless they exit the country within seven days.

“I have no ability to raise this amount and we are seeking assistance to offset the bill,” he continued.