Almost a year has passed but 19 migrants who were cheated and returned from Iraq have not yet received any compensation.
They formed a human chain in front of National Press Club yesterday demanding compensation from the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment.
They said they were victims of fraud, claiming that the four manpower agencies that sent them to Iraq presented entry visas as employment visas.
Claiming that the agencies managed fake smart cards from the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training, they said the four agencies are still running their business.
The agencies are Meghna Trade International Agency, Morning Sun Enterprises, East Bengal Overseas and Idea International Overseas.
Twenty-seven migrants went to Iraq through the agencies in March last year to work at a construction company.
But they were confined to a house near Najaf as they reached Iraq and did not get any job for 11 months.
In the wake of protests staged by their families, the government brought 22 of them back while the rest five fled from confinement.
Only three out of the 22 migrants received compensations from East Bengal Overseas and Idea International Overseas.
“Nineteen of us are yet to get any compensation. We paid Tk3 lakh each to go to Iraq,” said Masud Hossain, who hails from Tangail, at the human chain.
Having returned from Iraq, the victims complained to Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain in January this year.
“The minister assured us of compensation but we have got no update since then,” said Mozammel Haque.
Ilias Hossain, who set up a tea stall in the capital’s Mohammadpur after his return from Iraq, said: “We took out loans from Probashi Kallyan Bank which were supposed to be repaid from our wages in Iraq. Now we have no money but the bank is pressuring to pay back the loans.”
“Ministry officials behaved rudely with us when we went there to inquire about our compensation,” Ilias claimed.
The ministry’s Joint Secretary Nurul Islam earlier told the Dhaka tribune a decision on the compensation would be reached and actions would be taken against the accused recruiting agencies.
