Nearly 48 migrant labourers from Jharkhand’s Giridih, Bokaro and Hazaribagh districts have been stranded in Tunisia for the past three months under harsh and inhuman conditions. Through a video message, the workers have appealed to the Indian government for immediate intervention to secure their safe return home.
In the video, the workers alleged that their salaries have been withheld for the last six months and they are left without food or money. “We are starving and have no means to survive. Please help us return home,” one of the workers pleaded.
They claimed they were promised regular company jobs with eight-hour work shifts but were instead forced into contractual labour, made to work more than 12 hours a day.
“When we protested, they threatened to send us to jail and said we would never be able to return to India,” said one of the stranded workers, Amardeep Choudhary.
The group accused a firm named Prem Power Constructions of deceiving them and refusing to release their pending wages. Social activist Sikandar Ali, who has been working for the welfare of migrant labourers, has urged both the central and state governments to act swiftly.
He said such incidents are recurring and called upon the Ministry of External Affairs to repatriate the workers and create better employment opportunities in Jharkhand to prevent distress migration.
Of the 48 stranded, nine are from Vishnugarh in Hazaribagh, 14 from different blocks of Giridih district, and 15 from various areas in Bokaro.
Among them are Amardeep Choudhary, Nandlal Mahato, Ajay Kumar, Gurucharan Mahato, Lalu Karmali and Sunil Tudu. A few months ago, several Jharkhand labourers were similarly trapped in Niger, South Africa, and some reportedly remain missing.
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