The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Back from Jordan with tales of woe

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 14, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Back from Jordan with tales of woe

Staff Reporter

Lured by promises of big salaries, theirs was a bitter awakening

CHENNAI: Forty-one tailors from Tamil Nadu, who were lured into a chance to work in Jordan in West Asia, returned to Chennai on Saturday, with harrowing tales of poverty and imprisonment.

The group, hailing from places such as Tiruttaraipoondi, Kumbakonam and Ramanathapuram, said they were lured by advertisements that promised big salaries, but later found they had been cheated. They were dismissed from work and later imprisoned for remaining in the country after the expiry of their work permits.

The returnees said they were attracted by press advertisements given by local travel-cum-manpower agencies for recruiting tailors to work in a garment factory in Jordan. Interviews were held in Thanjavur and Ramanathapuram and 41 were selected. The agency had asked them to pay Rs. 65,000 to Rs.75,000 for passport, visa and flight charges.

They went to Jordan in July last, but soon realised they had been cheated. They were refused regular pay, not given proper food and accommodation, but forced to work for long hours.

Finally, they were dismissed without payment of salary for six months, and were reduced to begging. It was then that they were picked up by police for overstaying.

For the past several months, efforts were being made to rescue them. Finally, after several rounds of discussions with the Jordanian authorities, the workers were brought back, police said.

They later left for their hometowns.

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