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'At present there might be at least 500 Indians stuck in Iran for various reasons and we have no idea when they will come back.'
It was supposed to be a dream job for two college buddies -- Arham Shaikh and Ashish Sakpal -- but it turned out to be a nightmare.
They hoped to earn a monthly salary of $350 (about Rs 26,000), but instead, landed up in Iran as stranded sailors for two years with no income and no guarantee of returning home. Until the Maritime Union of India (TMUI) stepped in.
Sitting in TMUI's office at Udyog Bhavan in Ballard Pier, south Mumbai, Arham and Ashish looked relieved. They had come there to thank Akbar A Khan, head administrator of 'The Maritime Floating Staff Welfare Trust', and Amar Singh Thakur, general secretary, TMUI.
"For months, we survived on very little food. There was no electricity. Worse, there wasn't even a doctor available for us. I took care of Ashish and he took care of me when we fell ill," recalls Arham, sitting next to his mother Shagufta Shaikh.
"Our hopes of returning home were getting bleaker each day, but thanks to Consul A K Sudhakaran at the Indian consulate in Bandar Abbas, Iran; Amar Singh Thakurji, at the ministry of external affairs in New Delhi; Akbar Khanji, who coordinated with the Iranian government so that we could come back safely," says Arhjam.
Why were Arham and Ashish stranded in Iran?
In 2019, they came in contact with an agent named Aniket Singh, who ran Abdo Consultancy and who told them to pay Rs 2.5 lakh if they wanted job as sailors.
Since one of their friends vouched for the agent, Arham and Ashish accepted the offer and decided to join, for which they were promised a salary of $350 per month.
"I wanted to travel around the world and see the oceans. I never expected I would end up as an illegal refugee in Iran with no documents to prove that I am an Indian citizen," says Ashish.
The agent first sent them to Dubai on a shipping vessel on September 23, 2019, a job for which they were paid regularly, which never made them even imagine that in the future their dream job would turn into a nightmare.
After working for more than six months in Dubai, their ship left for Bandar Abbas in Iran and it is here that their troubles started.
"When we reached Iran, our agent there told us that we would not get $350 as promised, but only $150. He renewed the contract without even giving us a chance to negotiate," says Ashish.
When they tried to contact Aniket Singh, they found that he had shut shop.
"The worst part was our Iranian agent had lost our passports after taking it from us on the pretext of getting our visas extended. He never returned it," adds Arham.
When they approached the Iranian owner of their vessel, he started blaming the agent for losing their passports while the agent blamed the owner.
Soon, they found that they were stranded on one of the ships at Bandar Abbas with nowhere to go.
They had become illegal immigrants in Iran and could not do anything because they had no money even to recharge their phones.
"We were worried as Ashish didn't call for over three months. We could only pray to God," says Darshana Sakpal, Ashish's mother.
"God was our only hope. Luckily, we managed to get in touch with A K Sudhakaranji at the Indian consulate in Bandar Abbas. He came like an angel in our life," recalls Shagufta Shaikh.
"He recharged our phones and we could speak to our families after months," Ashish recounts.
But the journey back to India was not an easy one as they had overstayed in Iran as illegal immigrants for which they had to pay a fine.
"We managed to arrange Rs 2.75 lakhs which was given to the Iranian government. After that, we got new passports. The Maritime Union of India arranged for our flight tickets from Bandar Abbas to Mumbai via Dubai," says Arham.
TMUI's Amar Singh Thakur cautions everyone who wants to work on a ship to always go through registered agents and contact "our organisations if you have any doubts".
"At present there might be at least 500 Indians stuck in Iran for various reasons and we have no idea when they will come back," says Thakur.
"These boys could come back because their parents live in the vicinity of Mumbai. They came here personally, and therefore we could help them," adds Thakur.
"If someone stays in a far-off place, it is very difficult for their family members to coordinate and bring them back to India."