Bangladesh's overseas job-seekers in Iraq, cheated by fraudulent manpower recruiters, have sought urgent help to return home as they say their lives are at stake.
Fourteen Bangladeshis, out of 27, have been remaining captive at Najaf city in Iraq since March 2013. They fell prey to fraudulent ways of dishonest private recruitment agencies, said sources.
Sources said, the workers are now in a vulnerable condition. They have been kept in a single room where they do not get even food and toilet facilities.
The victims are Meer Kashem, Abul Kalam Azad, Faruqe Hossain, Yousuf, Humayan Kabir, Rubel Miah, Abdul Malek, Saidul Islam, Ilias Hossain, Shafiqul Islam, Mosharraf Hossain, Shamol Das, Rabiul Awal and Abdur Rahim.
Eleven victims came back home earlier in November last. But the remaining 14 could not return as proper support was not provided to them by the authorities despite assurances of facilities to return home within four days.
The Morning Sun Enterprise, the East Bengal Overseas, the Idea International, the Meghna Trade International and the Bangladesh Migration International sent the workers taking Tk 350,000 to Tk 400,000 from each as migration cost.
The Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) gave them immigration clearance after it was found that their contract period was two years. The job related to construction work.
But after landing in airport, they could come to know that they were only given entry visas for three months, said a victim returnee.
"Middlemen seized all our documents including passports and kept us hostage in a room," he said.
But BMET Director General Begum Shamsun Nahar claimed the workers were not kept hostage. They are being given proper facilities and monthly salaries, she said.
But they did not get jobs as per their contract papers. So they are now desperate to return home, she said.
All necessary steps are being taken now to bring them back home, the BMET DG assured.
