14 Jharkhand migrant workers stranded in Dubai seek government help through video message
RANCHI: Fourteen migrant workers from Giridih, Hazaribagh, and Bokaro districts of Jharkhand, who had gone to Dubai for employment, have been stranded there for the past several months. Sending a video message to their family members, they have sought immediate help from the state and central government.
The stranded workers shared their plight through the video message, seeking urgent assistance. The video was also sent to social activist Sikandar Ali, who works on issues related to migrant workers, and was later shared with the media.
In the video message, the workers alleged that the company they are employed with is forcing them to work beyond stipulated hours while failing to pay their wages. Due to non-payment of salaries for the last three months, they are struggling to arrange food, accommodation, and other basic necessities, they said.
In the video, which has gone viral on social media, 11 people could be seen sitting in a closed room, appealing to the government for help.
“Brothers, we are 14 people trapped here in Dubai. We have been working for the EMC company for the last three months. They are not paying our salaries and have confiscated our passports. We have been hungry for the last two days and don’t even have money to buy food,” said one of the trapped workers. They also appealed to the Jharkhand and Indian governments for their safe return to India.
According to the workers, all of them had gone to Dubai in October 2025 to work on transmission line projects for EMC Company. However, none of them has received regular wages for the past three months.
Those stuck in Dubai include Jageshwar Mahto, Phalendra Mahto, Baijnath Mahto, Dilip Mahto, Gangadhar Mahto, Triloki Mahto, Deepak Kumar, Rohit Mahto, and Seva Mahto from Hazaribagh; Roshan Kumar and Ajay Kumar from Giridih; Rajesh Mahto and Ajay Kumar from Hazaribagh; and Daleshwar Mahto from Bokaro.
Social activist Sikandar Ali demanded that the central and state governments take concrete diplomatic steps to ensure the safe return of the laborers to their homeland.
“This is not the first case of laborers getting stranded abroad. Previously, many migrant workers have been trapped abroad after reaching there in the hope of earning money for the future of their family,” said Sikandar Ali. Their return was secured only after considerable efforts made by the state and central government; despite that, migrant workers are not learning lessons from past incidents, he added.
Sikandar also referred to the case of Vijay Kumar Mahto, a migrant worker from Giridih, who was killed after being shot in a crossfire between local police and criminals involved in the illegal liquor trade in Saudi Arabia on October 23, 2025. Even after three months, neither his body has been brought back to India nor has any compensation been provided to his family, he said.