Would-be migrant workers allege tear-gas use

Workers say scores of them removed by force

Story Highlights
Stranded workers in Iraq say authorities used tear gas, forcibly removed men

From Michael Ware
CNN

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Would-be migrant workers, who say they have been stranded in a compound at Baghdad's airport for months, said Iraqi security authorities using tear gas and smoke grenades forcibly removed scores of men from the derelict warehouse Friday.

Migrant workers in Iraq say authorities forcibly removed 350 men Friday for deportation.

A spokesman for Iraq's Ministry of Interior told CNN that 350 men were removed from the warehouse for deportation, but he said he was unaware of the use of tear gas or smoke grenades.

The men told CNN earlier this week they have been sleeping four to a bed at the compound, with poor food and no money, after being duped by unscrupulous recruiting agents into coming to Iraq -- at their own expense -- for nonexistent jobs.

The recruiters told the men -- from India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Uganda -- that jobs were waiting for them with American defense contractor KBR, through a Kuwaiti company called Najlaa Catering Services. The recruiting agents charged them between $3,000 and $5,000 to make the trip to Iraq; many sold their farms or other valuables to raise the money.

The Ministry of Interior spokesman told CNN that Najlaa gave the men one month's salary before their removal. CNN was attempting to reach the company for comment Friday.

The men told CNN earlier this week that when they arrived in Baghdad, Najlaa housed around 1,000 of them -- 600 in the one-room warehouse alone -- in the compound within the airport, surrounded by private security guards. Showers there are useless because the taps don't work. Many have questions about their visas and status in Iraq. They're legally unable to stay, but they lack the money to return home.

Asked about the situation earlier this week, Najlaa officials in Iraq refused comment to CNN. The company's Kuwaiti office said the situation was "under control" and being dealt with.

Private security guards secured the perimeter of the compound. The men said the guards fired into the air to silence them when they protested. They told CNN the governments of their home countries were doing nothing to help them.

Some Ugandan men said Iraqi police handcuffed and beat them. "They say, 'If you are here for the U.S., we're going to show you the difference between the U.S. government and the Iraqi government. Let's see if the U.S. is going to help you,' " one man said. Iraqi police would not answer questions about those allegations.

As the men spoke to CNN on camera earlier this week, an official in charge of them threatened to lock them out of the compound unless they returned inside within two minutes.

KBR was not involved in recruiting the men. The company told CNN it does not condone unethical behavior, insisting its contractors abide by its code of conduct, including training in human trafficking. The company said that when it becomes aware of possible trafficking, it works "to remediate the problem and report the matter to proper authorities. KBR then works with authorities to rectify the matter."

Meanwhile, another group of men at a separate, makeshift camp nearby said they were duped by different recruiters. They live off food donated by Iraqi workers and say the people who brought them to Iraq have disappeared.

Those men said their immigration status is in limbo. Their passports have been taken, or pages with visas have been torn out.

Help may be on the way. The men said United Nations workers had visited them, and the organization told CNN it is aware of the situation and is figuring out how to help the men. The U.S. military told CNN it takes human rights abuses seriously and is looking into the matter. The Iraqi government has also confiscated the passport of a Najlaa official until a solution is found.

But for the stranded men, help can't come soon enough.

"It's not fair," one said.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/12/ ... index.html