Conned by agency, 14 workers in dire straits

Fourteen workers, stranded for months in Bahrain after being conned by a recruitment agency in their hometown in  India promising decent jobs, are seeking repatriation.

The labourers came to Bahrain three months ago. They said the agency offered them jobs in Bahrain with salaries ranging from BD100 to BD120.

However, when they reached Bahrain, they realised that their salaries were lower than what the agency had offered to give.

They also alleged that their employer was exploiting them. They said that they were overworked and underpaid.

The 14 workers are mainly drivers and masons and they are all employed in a construction company. 

They hope that their employer will give them their pending salaries so they can use it to travel back. Despite their best efforts to leave the country, the fact that they do not have any money to return, make matters worst. Meanwhile, yesterday, they visited the Indian Embassy to seek help.

“We were offered jobs with BD100 to BD120 salaries, but some of us receive BD75, while others receive BD100. Now, we don’t have our passports with us as the company confiscated it. The Embassy representatives have promised to take care of the passport issue, so our problem is now mainly financial,” said Sanoj, who worked in the company as a driver. 

“We received the salary on time, except for last month. They decided not to give us the salary because we quit. The company is not ready to give us the pending salary or an air-ticket to travel back,” he added. 

He said that there are 22 other labourers, who are still working in the company. “The remaining ones are still working in the company because they don’t have another option. They need the money and they do not have any choice. But they were also cheated by the recruitment agency and they are also going through what we went through,” he added.