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Confined in Iraq for Nearly 10 Months

Debts now burden returnees

Staff Correspondent
Following nearly 10 months of confinement in an Iraqi labour accommodation, 11 of 27 Bangladeshis have finally returned home, but now face an uncertain future with large debts.
"It seems we can breathe fresh air under the open sky now," said Zakir Hossain, 41, one of the 11 who landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the capital at midnight on Saturday.
He said their employer provided them no salary, but just the air tickets. The rest 16 are scheduled to be repatriated by December 10.
The 27 construction workers went to Iraq in February and March through four Bangladeshi recruiting agencies -Morning Sun Enterprise, Meghna Trade International, East Bengal Overseas and Idea International - spendingTk 3 to Tk4 lakh.
The employing Iraqi company, M Kodia Co General Trading, which agreed to pay a monthly salary of US $350, failed to start its construction project and kept the workers confined in the compound in Najaf, 160 kilometres off Baghdad.
Zakir, who hails from Barisal, said they stayed in the tin-shed accommodation in a desert where they faced extreme heat and cold while being served mostly lentil and chapatti all throughout the 10 months.
"We could endure everything had we been provided jobs. We repeatedly urged our embassy in Baghdad, but in vain," said Shaon Ali, another worker.
Now that they are home, they face the brunt of loans that they took from various sources to finance their migration.
Shaon said of the Tk 3.7 lakh that he spent to go to Iraq, he borrowed Tk 80,000 from the Probashi Kallyan Bank and the rest from relatives. Including the interest, the Ioan by this time has accumulated to around Tk 5 lakh.
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"I do not know how to repay this loan if the government does not arrange some form of compensation," he said.
Meanwhile, he said, the returnees were preparing to lodge a complaint with the Airport Police Station under anti-human trafficking law
against the four recruiting agencies, the Iraqi employer and Bangladesh Migrants' Foundation, a migrants' welfare body that was involved in the migration process of the 27 workers.
Al Amin Noyon, programme officer of Shikkha Shasthya Unnayan
Karzakram (Shishuk) that has been rescuing these migrants, said all these workers have large amounts of debts.
He said they would assist the victims in realising compensation from the recruiting agencies and the employer.