HYDERABAD: The return of 46 nurses who were kept in captivity by the ISIL brought to light the ugly side of the international companies who, in the name of cheap labour, employ hundreds of workers from India, particularly Karimnagar and Adilabad districts, and treat them as slaves.
As many as 73 workers who returned from Kirkuk in Iraq claimed that it was a “living hell”. They described their living conditions as nothing short of enslavement. “We used to keep hearing the sounds of bomb blasts from the nearby areas,” said R L Anjaneyulu from Peddapalli, Karimnagar. He went to Iraq four months ago in the hope of a decent livelihood working with a leading soft drink franchise. “However, our employers were least bothered about whatever was happening in the outside world. All they wanted was that we work for long hours,” he alleged.
“I was doing odd jobs when I came across an agent who wooed me into going to Iraq,” he recalled.
Along with Anjaneyulu, 280 others, most of who are yet to return, had gone to Iraq. Anjaneyulu was promised a salary of `20,000 but he was paid only a month’s salary.With tension running high in Iraq, most of the workers had decided to return. “Right in the beginning, they (employers) made us sign an agreement saying that they are not responsible for any untoward happening that might take place,” said Anjaneyulu.
“Our passports were seized,” he recalled. “There are close to 100 others in the company waiting for their passports to be returned,” he added. He went on to claim that he had to fight for his passport for three days before his employers returned it. “We were told to choose between our salary and passport,” he said.
Though most of the workers decided to come back, they couldn’t do so because of lack of money. “The Indian Embassy helped us. They ensured our safe return as soon as we informed the officials about our plight,” he added.