According to Sri Lanka's ambassador to the UAE, Mr Samsudeen, the Pakistani management of the garment factory have twice renegued on their promises to pay their workers and send them home. More than three months after the workers were forced to resign when they complained over the sacking of a fellow employee, the owners have prevented them from either working or leaving.

An official of the Sri Lankan consulate in Dubai told the BBC that the factory's managing director, Mr Aziz Rahman, claims he didn't have the money to pay his employees, but since the factory has yet to terminate the work visas of the sacked employees, they are unable to leave the country. They told the local paper, Gulf News, that they were effectively being held prisoner on the factory premises in the Emirate of Ajman.

Many say they have already shipped their luggage to Sri Lanka which is now incurring huge port storage costs. The case of the stranded Sri Lankan workers is an all too familiar story of employer abuse.

Although Gulf governments have cracked down hard on illegal immigrants and corrupt employers, the problem is simply too big to be solved at one stroke. More than 100,000 Sri Lankans work in the UAE, while millions more Asians are employed throughout the Gulf.