The inhuman details of torture reportedly carried out on many of our deported workers from Kuwait are public knowledge now, and as we look at the photographs of forlorn men standing at the Zia International Airport with bandages and bruised faces, the expression on their faces asks one clear question: is this what we deserve? In fact, that is the question that should be put forward to the authorities of the countries from which our workers had to come back. And it's about time that we attach due importance to the plight faced by millions of Bangladeshi workers abroad. Yes, their tales of woe, like being stranded in the airport with no contacts or ending up in squalid prisons, have come to the papers at regular intervals but in the last one week, the events that took place in Kuwait and the subsequent repatriation of workers, many with wounds, forces us to face this matter, not only with compassion but with a stern conviction.
Of course, if workers in a foreign land break the law and are the cause of social unrest, then the law of the land has to act. But how is this beating up of workers and their deportation justified when they were the victims in the first place? The trouble had been brewing for quite some time and the fact that workers from Bangladesh are generally not paid enough is not a revelation for most of us. We have known for quite some time that a person is lured into the overseas employment trap with a reasonably good monthly wage, say 60 Kuwaiti Dinars, in the case of Kuwait, but in reality most workers, after landing in Kuwait find that their salary has been slashed to 20 or 25. But even that is a very generous estimate because a series of recent reports have informed us that often the salary does not even cross 20 KD. Obviously, a question arises as to where the rest of the money goes and so far we have known that it goes to the middlemen. And, in our ignorance we think that the middlemen are always Bangladeshi people. Sadly, that is the first fatal flaw in our understanding. In truth, many of the middle entities are companies owned by Syrians or Egyptians and that is where the money goes. 'It's wrong to think that the money is taken by Bangladeshi agents because in many situations the manpower supplying link is but another Arab agency and since these are run by Arabic speaking people, they manage to evade the law,' commented a Bangladeshi professional who works in Kuwait. 'Even in our company, the supplier of manpower is an Egyptian company and until last month, the workers usually received 20 KD as their monthly wages,' he mentioned and added, 'Since these companies are run by Arabs, they are never caught. Then in a lot of cases the passports of the workers are confiscated and therefore, there remains no option but to remain working for the company for a miserable salary.'
Now, it would not be fair at all to say that all of our Bangladeshi expatriates are good people. Yes there are people engaged in prostitution rings, manufacturing of spurious alcohol and drugs and if the law is strict on them we have no objection whatsoever. But, when innocent workers face physical assault and are sent back in humiliation, we must stand up and take a stance.
But to understand the whole debacle of the workers and their deportation, we must go back a few days and trace the reports. 'The workers protested not because their salary was low but because they had not been paid for three months,' observed a Bangladeshi research analyst working in Kuwait. And, if that is the case then we support their agitation! These people have gone abroad to work and are working for salaries that are not even half of what they were promised and still sometimes we feel that the country which takes our labourers are doing us a favour? If we bring the charter of human rights in the workplace then most of the countries of the Middle-East will turn out to be gross violators. The middlemen may take a big chunk from the earnings of the workers but what is the government of that country doing to stop it?
To turn our attention to other issues, it's reported that every month, one or two maids, working in the countries of the Arab gulf and usually from the Philippines, commit suicide. Given the spate of reports over the past decade that have given first hand accounts from survivors, of torture or beatings by their employers in the countries in question, is it not unnatural that those governments remain silent on this continuing trend of suicides?
Now that a large number of people are back with sour experiences efforts are underway to find if these people were actually involved in any sort of disharmonious acts, we are informed that usually the ones who create the problems always manage to escape the law. 'The fall guys are the innocent ones who are used as cannon fodder. The main ones escape because of the prevalent system of 'Wasta' or link that is maintained with the authority, reportedly in exchange of bribes.'
If the authorities in foreign countries round up those engaged in racketeering, money-laundering and other nefarious acts then we will applaud their moves. But, if they crack down on innocent people to vent their anger then there must be firm protests.
The matter of 'favour' was mentioned earlier, and I would like to say that, by taking our workers no one is doing us any big favour. Thousands of Bangladeshi workers toil in the desert sun with the heat often reaching upto to 49 degrees and they do it, in most cases, for a salary that is lower than the one that was promised to them. Now Kuwait has a law that states that an employer has to suspend all work if the heat reaches 50 degrees but reportedly many do work day in and day out in 48 to 49 degrees. This labour is cheap and this is the labour that goes into making the hundreds of luxurious buildings and structures in the desert lands. Plain economics of the matter is that, by employing Bangladeshi workers these countries save billions and yet they feel they are doing us a favour. The hard truth, no one can offer such a vast work force at such low rates. Yes, there are Indian workers, but today, India herself needs her workers for her economic boom and she is willing to pay competitive rates. That means, the source of work force is limited.
The bottom line is: if the law of a foreign country needs to resort to stringent measures then these should not be directed at the workers but towards the profit hungry middle agents. The trouble in Kuwait would not even have taken place if the salaries had been paid regularly, but as the situation has become ugly, we now demand a thorough investigation of the issue and a statement from the middle agents. Also, we demand human rights organisations go into these countries where manpower is imported to see if their working and living conditions meet with the minimum human standard. Western media is prompt to move into third world markets to see violations of labour laws but we never see them venture into labour markets of wealthy states. Now why is that?
If our workers go abroad to work then they must do so in conditions that do not insult their human dignity and the governments of labour importing states need to realise this too. It's time the clear truth comes out in the open: the favour is not one sided, it goes both ways. You take our workers and you save big bucks – that's the truth thrown at your face.
