Jobless, homeless and unable to get a break

From the optimism of their early days in the UAE, K M and his family now live in their car and debt has left them in a legal limbo.

Pakistani KM is homeless and unemployed. He lives in his car and his passport has been withheld by the Dubai court due to unpaid rent. Antonie Robertson / The National

ABU DHABI // The husband and wife sitting on the grass with their two young children look like any other family passing the hours in one of Dubai’s parks.

But as the sun sets and the wardens begin to close up, this family of four are more reluctant than most to leave.

K M and his wife have no home. They are forced to live in their car with their two children, aged 10 and 6, since he lost his job.

“I would have never imagined that this would be my life. That I would be living in a car with my family,” said the 39-year-old.

His plight is far from what they imagined a new life in Dubai would be. K M arrived in the emirate in 2004, newly-wed and in search of opportunities.

He took a job paying Dh10,000 a month, which while not a great deal, was enough for him and his family to make ends meet.

“We never knew what was happening,” said the husband, explaining how one day he went to work to find that the company’s expatriate owner had fled the UAE after an argument with his Emirati sponsor.

K M and his colleagues were given the news that they had lost their jobs.

“I began looking for another job and it was very hard because the market was down and no one was hiring,” said K M.

With mounting costs and no income, he soon began to miss rent payments for his one-bedroom flat.

The family got lucky when K M landed a job as a real estate agent, only to find that when it came to processing his documents the Emirati sponsor of his old company had reported him and his former workmates to the police, claiming they had all absconded.

“This was a shock and I contacted the sponsor and pleaded with him to lift the charges,” said K M. By this time his residency visa had expired and he had to borrow Dh30,000 to pay the fines for staying in the country.

However, with the property market dipping, the company cut back his hours to part time.

“The market is down and it’s hard to find clients. It’s very challenging,” he said.

His biggest challenge was yet to come.

The family discovered that their landlord had filed a case against K M for unpaid rent and was demanding Dh130,000.

“I asked him that I pay it in instalments but he refused,” said K M who was left with no option but to move his family into his car.

“The court has withheld my passport as a guarantee that I will pay,” he said.

A grace period to pay back the amount ended on Thursday after which an arrest warrant will be issued.

“I need my passport back so I can find a job to pay back the money,” said K M, who earns a little cash as an illegal taxi driver.

“I know it’s illegal but I need money to feed my kids.”

Hisham Al Zahrani, manager of zakat and social services at Dar Al Ber, said K M needs Dh130,000 to pay off his debt and retrieve his passport.

“This debt is preventing him from leading a normal life, one which he and his family deserve.”