Enslaved in Saudi Arabia, 200 Indians cry for help

CHENNAI: Nearly 200 skilled and unskilled labourers from Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh are stranded in Saudi Arabia after their Bangladeshi employer cheated them. The workers said they were promised jobs in a plastic factory, but were made to clean toilets. Sources at the Indian mission in Saudi Arabia said the Indians travelled to Dammam after paying Rs 90,000 to Rs 150,000 each to a Mumbai-based labour agent called Fahad Enterprises. The workers have appealed to the government of India for help to return home. "I have asked Indian ambassador to Saudi Arabia Hamid Ali Rao to look into this and get back to me. Despite so many awareness campaigns and advertisements asking our people to go abroad only through proper channels, many of them continue to go undocumented. This has become a big problem," minister for overseas Indian affairs Vayalar Ravi told TOI on Saturday. The duped Indians were recruited for a plastic factory and ended up in a manpower supplying company managed by two Bangladeshis. Speaking to TOI from the Eastern Province in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, the men said that they had lodged a complaint with Indian diplomats in Dammam. The workers said that the recruitment agent in Mumbai had promised them jobs as skilled workers in Al-Babtain Plastic Factory in Dammam. A worker, who didn't want to be named fearing victimization, told TOI he and the others have not been paid since they reached Saudi Arabia two months ago. "Please help us. All we want now is to get back home and be with our families. These two months have been a nightmare for us, with no food or roof over our heads," he said. The workers said they were not given food whenever they refused to clean toilets. The workers said they had invested their life's savings to go to Saudi Arabia and never imagined they would end up as beggars. A number of them have borrowed money from private lenders on huge interest rates; one pledged gold meant for his sister's wedding. Indian Embassy officials in Riyadh were not available for comment.   Source: TOI