'Indian workers in Dubai duped by conmen'
Twenty-five Indian workers have been duped out of almost 70,000 dollars by recruitment agency conmen promising them bogus jobs in the United Arab Emirates,the media reported.
By PTI |
DUBAI: Twenty-five Indian workers have been duped out of almost 70,000 dollars by recruitment agency conmen promising them bogus jobs in the United Arab Emirates,the media reported.
The men were promised lucrative jobs and flew to Dubai last month after each paying employment agents 10,000 dirhams but when they arrived they discovered their employment visas were fakes and they had no jobs.
"Our lives are ruined. Life will not be easy once we return. We have a big burden of repaying our money, which we borrowed on a huge interest rate from moneylenders," said Ahmed Kabeer, 40.
"We came here to lead a better life, but we are returning disappointed and disenchanted with life."
The men said they were lodging a complaint with police about the agents and are expected to fly back to India later this week.
"The chances of recovering our money are not good. The Indian government should initiate stringent action against the unscrupulous agent who has shown no heart in cheating us," one frustrated worker said.
ADVERTISEMENT
The agents also failed to pay rent for the flat the men were sharing and they were forced to sleep rough until they were taken in by an Indian woman. The Valley of Love voluntary organisation, which works to help poor labourers, said a crackdown was needed on fake recruitment agents to stop them exploiting workers.
"The Indian government, in co-operation with the UAE authorities, should work to foil the attempts of agents trying to cheat the poor workers," an official from the organisation said.
An estimated 700,000 Asians, mostly from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, work in the booming construction industry in the UAE, an oil-rich Gulf country experiencing economic growth and where only some 20 per cent of the four million population are natives.
ADVERTISEMENT
The six members of the Gulf Cooperative Council have a total population of 35 million people, around 13 million of whom are expatriates, mostly foreign labourers from Asian countries. According to human rights groups, who regularly criticise the system of immigration in the Gulf, many live in poor conditions and are exploited by employers.
Download
The Economic Times Business News App for the Latest News in Business, Sensex, Stock Market Updates & More.
The Economic Times Business News App for the Latest News in Business, Sensex, Stock Market Updates & More.
Download
The Economic Times News App for Quarterly Results, Latest News in ITR, Business, Share Market, Live Sensex News & More.
The Economic Times News App for Quarterly Results, Latest News in ITR, Business, Share Market, Live Sensex News & More.
ADVERTISEMENT
