Around twenty cheated migrants have been staging sit-in in front of Probashi Kallyan Bhaban at Eskaton of the capital demanding compensation.
They threatened they would continue the sit-in unless the expatriates' welfare and overseas employment ministry met their demand. They have started the sit-in around 10:30am on Sunday, July 20.
“The ministry assured us of compensation but we are yet to get any although about seven months have been passed,” Mozammel Hoque, one of the victims, told the Dhaka Tribune.
After returning from Iraq empty handed, Mozammel along with others alleged against four recruiting agencies to Expatriates' Welfare Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain in January.
The recruiting agencies are Meghna Trade International Agency, Morning Sun Enterprises, East Bengal Overseas and Idea International Overseas.
Expatriates' welfare ministry joint secretary Nurul Islam has been looking after the matter.
Mozammel said: “I along three others met Nurul Islam who told us to call off the sit-in, assuring us of compensation soon.”
He alleged that the joint secretary threatened to hand them over to law enforcers unless they withdraw the movement.
“We have taken time due to procedure and we have to follow rules,” Nurul Islam told this correspondent.
He, however, said: “We would be able to reach at a solution soon."
The licences of four recruiting agencies would be canceled in a week, Islam said adding the deposited money of fraudulent agencies would be forfeited.
Four private recruiting agencies, in association with some middlemen, sent 27 migrants to Iraq in March 2013 to work at a construction company.
After reaching Iraq, they were confined in a house near Najaf, and they did not get jobs for about 11 months.
Following movement of the migrants' families, the government brought back twenty two migrants from Iraq. Five migrants fled from the confinement.
Out of twenty two, three migrants received compensation from East Bengal Overseas and Idea International Overseas. Nineteen workers are yet to get compensation.
Each of the migrants claimed that they had to pay around Tk3,00,000 to go to Iraq.
