Farida Salim said her estranged Tanzanian husband, who she married in 2009, abandoned them earlier this year to live in another apartment with his first wife, a Yemeni woman.
The mother and her two sons, aged one and two, says they were evicted last Monday because the husband, a salesman in a Dubai cargo company, had not paid the rent and gave cheques to the landlord that bounced.
Farida, a former bank collections agent in her 30s, said two women’s shelters in Sharjah and Dubai told her they only handle cases of domestic violence or human trafficking.
She also called the Kenyan embassy in Abu Dhabi and its consulate in Dubai for help but says she has not heard back from them.
A friend has paid for them to stay in an Ajman hotel from Sunday to Tuesday, after which they will have nowhere to go.
They have unsuccessfully tried to sleep in mosques.
They were also asked to leave a relative’s home who had initially let them spend a night.
She said she has no money for a ticket home and her visa — which her husband allegedly never sponsored for residence status — has expired.
Farida won a Sharjah Sharia (Islamic) court judgment that asks her husband to pay Dh4,000 a month to her, but he is not honouring the court order, she said.
According to a copy of the court ruling, seen by Gulf News, the husband is “obliged to pay Dh2,000 to the plaintiff on a monthly basis” starting from May 15.
The judgment, issued in June, adds he must also pay her another Dh2,000 “to be spent on her sons Mohammad, two, and Mazin, one, for clothing, food and drinks.”
It continues, the husband is “obliged to renew her sons’ visas upon expiry.”
The husband declined to comment when contacted by Gulf News on Monday.
“My husband doesn’t give me a dirham. We’ve been kicked out on the street because of his neglect. He has a two-bedroom apartment, at least he can take the kids in,” Farida said.
“I just a need job to stand on my feet again, I’m a hard worker. But I can’t cope without a place to stay and feed my children, all doors are closing on me.”
She said she used to make about Dh17,000 a month in salary and incentives at her bankjob.
“I used to pay the rent and expenses, even though that [was supposed to be] my husband’s responsibility. Everything changed after I quit to take care of my sons at home. He said ‘Why did you quit? I can’t support you.’ I used to get Dh50-Dh60 from him per week, but I’ve not seen a penny since April,” Farida said.
She added that her bank told her she cannot rejoin for a year as she left voluntarily, and there’s no opening. Farida is asking friends to circulate her CV in hopes of landing work again.
“I’m a respectable woman. I just need some help with a job or place to stay so my kids are safe. I’m not asking for money, I want justice.
“I was in love. I trusted my husband and forgave his faults — I made a mistake. People say no one goes hungry [during] Ramadan, but we did,” a tearful Farida said.
Farida speaks Arabic, English and Swahili.
Source: Gulf News
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