A family of expats from India has been living illegally in the UAE for several decades: without visas and passports.
An Indian family of seven: a mother, father and five adult children intends to legitimize the status of their stay in the UAE after several decades of living in Sharjah under pain of arrest and deportation.
Madhusudhanan, 60, an Indian expatriate from India and his 55-year-old wife Rohini from Sri Lanka, said they wanted a normal life for their children, who had never gone to school.
"Due to our illegal status, I cannot send any of the five children to school. They never even had passports. They never went outside the UAE. They suffered all their lives. I want them to have a worthy life, "Madhusudhanan shares his grief.
The four daughters of Madhusudhanan: Ashvati, Sangeta, Santhi, Gauri and son Mithun are unemployed, they live with their parents in a dilapidated house in Sharjah.
"We do not have enough food. It happens that we have to eat only bread. Children are afraid to go out. We live as prisoners, not knowing what our future will be like," Rohini's mother complains.
Madhusudhanan came to the UAE in 1979 to earn money. In Al Ain, he met Rohini, in 1988, young people got married.
“Like any other Indian expat, I came to the UAE in search of a better life and happiness for my family. But everything turned upside down when, after three years of stay, I lost my job and became illegal,” says Madhusudhanan.
Madhusudhanan said that when he lost his second job shortly before the birth of his first daughter in 1989, his life began to resemble a roller coaster ride.
“I lived in the country illegally, so I couldn’t even apply for a passport for my daughter. By the time I found another job and received a resident visa, my wife lost her job in 1992 - in the same year we had a second child "We could not apply for a passport because his mother lived illegally in the country."
Madhusudhanan and Rohini want to start from scratch. They hope that they will be able to legitimize the status of their stay in the country, and their children will receive at least some kind of education.
"This is our only hope, we have lived in the Emirates for almost forty years, this is our home, and we want to die here."
