Iraq crisis: 16,000 from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana in Iraq send SOS

Over 150 workers have been illegally detained by a construction company

Update: 2014-06-24 04:08 GMT
Iraq Crisis: Iraqi Shiite Turkmen gunmen stand on their vehicle as they prepare to patrol around the village. (Photo: AP)
Hyderabad: Over 16,000 Indians, including 3,000 people from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, who are stranded in strife-torn Iraq, are making frantic calls to their respective governments, asking for help to return home.
 
Most Indian workers in Iraq are being maltreated by their employers and many from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are illegally detained and forced to work without salaries for months as their employers hold on to their passports.
 
Also read: 250 Telugus on their way to Iraq despite crisis
 
“We (150 employees) sat in protest against our employer Al Menahel. Our passports are with them and they have not paid our salaries for months. A few companies have already started sending their employees back home,” said Dadi Srinivas Rao, a civil engineer.
 
Also read: Iraq crisis: ISIS to use abducted Indians as human shields?
 
Over 150 workers from the two states have been illegally detained by a construction company, Al-Kahleez, in Najaf City, Baghdad, and are being forced to work without wages.
 
Read: Iraq crisis: India in touch with Iraqi red crescent on hostages

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