By SNV Sudhir
The condition of around 19 Telugus, belonging to Vizag
district, who have reached Iraq
after the civil war started unfolding in the country on June 19, is
unexplainable. On one hand, they are not treated properly with poor living and
working conditions and on the other the fear of civil war reaching Najaf, which
is roughly 160 kms south of Iraq capital, Baghdad, is what making their life
miserable.
“Though we know there
is some crisis here in Iraq
we never thought it is so serious. Agent, who facilitated us get the job, has
said there is absolutely no problem and the situation there is absolutely fine.
After we came here we felt that everything is shattered. All the seniors who
have been working here since a few months have already resigned their jobs and
have been demanding the management to send them back to their respective
countries due to the deplorable situation here due to the civil war. There are
already some Telugus working here,”
Surisetty Poornachandra Rao, 22, an electrician of Vizag told this
correspondent from Iraq
over phone.
Rao, who, earlier worked at a windmill in Tamil Naidu, added
that some of the seniors who were hell bent on not going to work as they were
not sent back to India ,
were given punishment of standing out in open under red hot sun. Average
temperatures range between 41 to 44 degrees during June in Al Najaf.
Poornachandra Rao, further said that due to the punishment two unidentified
persons from Uttar Pradesh died a few days ago.
Around 19 Telugus from various mandals coming under
Anakapalle, have reached Al Najaf through, a Tanuku based agent, Medipati
Venkata Krishna, to work at various construction sites of 4th Dimension
Company, which is an Iraqi group of companies based in Baghdad with regional branches in most of the
provinces of the country. The company is
presently engaged in reconstruction and rehabilitation projects throughout Iraq with a
total value in excess of USD 950 millions.
In Al Najaf last Saturday groups of volunteer fighters
joined the army for helping them fight terror groups and held a parade. It is
worth mentioning here that global human rights group Amnesty International on Friday claimed in London that several
hundred Indians were trapped in Al Najaf without their passports.
The 19 are the latest lot of Telugus to reach Al Najaf
whereas there are already many from various parts of Andhra Pradesh, who have been
working there since a few months. “There is no proper food, water and shelter.
We were all accommodated in a shed and given a thick sponge material to sleep.
They said we need to work at least 12 hours, but our seniors hinted the working
hours may go up depending upon the day’s work. They have scolded us why we are
here when the country under threat. More than the living and working conditions
we are now scared of the military operations and civil war. Our lives are
definitely under threat and we desperately need government’s help. Please get
us out from this hell,” another Telugu Chilluri Satish, a welder, told this
newspaper from Al Najaf.
The Telugus also said that the management representatives
have seized their passports as and when they reached the workplace and
cautioned that they will get them back only after two years of work.
Dream of making some good money have prompted these skilled,
semi skilled and unskilled workers from Vizag reach Al Najaf. Most of them are
welders, electricians, fitters and daily labour. They also said that the agent threatened them
of not returning the passports if they don’t fly to Iraq . They all have paid around Rs
1.5 lakh to the agent for these jobs in February. They also don’t have clarity
on the type of Visa they were given to enter Iraq . Unskilled were offered pay of USD 350 to 400
and to the skilled workers around USD 750 and 800 per month.
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