Dozens of Indian migrants have been left stranded in Tunisia — enduring severe hardships without pay after being deceived by a recruitment firm. The Jharkhand government confirmed on Friday that it had managed to establish contact with the group and was now working to verify their documents. The 48 Indians stranded in north Africa alleged that they had been forced to work 12-hour days without pay for the past three months.
The workers explained in a video message that they had been left in a “very bad situation” after the India-based company stopped paying salaries. The hiring company had reportedly told the migrants they would be working for eight hours daily — promising proper contracts and fair wages. But the stranded migrants alleged that they were now being forced work for around 12 hours every day with no salary paid for three months.
Jharkhand govt establishes contact
Chief Minister Hemant Soren took cognisance of the matter on Friday afternoon and asked local authorities to investigate the matter. The deputy commissioners of Bokaro, Hazaribag and Giridih (from where the group is believed to hail) have also been urged to “take action to assist the migrant brothers and inform accordingly”.
“We spoke to the migrant workers allegedly stranded by a private firm in Tunisia and are verifying their documents. We are also in touch with the Indian Embassy officials in Tunisia for arranging their safe return to their native places,” Shikha Lakra — the team leader of Migrant Control Cell (under Jharkhand Labour department) — told PTI.
‘No money, no food’
The situation had first come to light after the migrants shared a video message to explain their situation. Social activist Sikander Ali told PTI that he had received a missive from one of the stranded workers late on Thursday night and subsequently flagged the issue. He said the 48 workers had been hired by a Delhi-based private firm to lay high transmission wires. The company is reportedly working under a leading multinational company for the project in Tunisia.
“In the video message, the workers have alleged that the company is not paying them wages for the last three months and is also forcing them to work overtime. This is causing them mental stress. They want to return home but are not being allowed by the company. The workers have appealed to the Centre and state government to help them return to their homes,” he said.
“We were told that we are being employed by a company and that we will get our agreement papers on reaching the work location. On reaching, we found out that this was contract work and there are no agreement papers. On asking for payment, we are being threatened that we will be jailed and won’t be able to return to India,” NDTV quoted one worker as saying on video.
