The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Vaiko’s appeal to Manmohan Singh

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Vaiko’s appeal to Manmohan Singh

Special Correspondent

He seeks steps to get justice for 550 Indians in the U.S., who were cheated by a recruitment agency

Vaiko

CHENNAI: Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) general secretary Vaiko on Sunday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take immediate steps to get justice for 550 Indians in the U.S., who were cheated by a Mumbai-based recruitment agency.

In a letter to Mr. Manmohan Singh, Mr. Vaiko said the government should ensure their continued presence in the U.S. to fight their case in the courts and get adequate compensation from the company and the traffickers. Stringent action should be taken against the traffickers, he said.

Accusing Indian Ambassador Ronen Sen of being indifferent to the sufferings of Indian workers, Mr Vaiko said the Ambassador had failed to look into their memorandum even after 15 days.

Mr Vaiko said the youth were recruited by Mumbai-based consultancy promising permanent jobs with good salary and other facilities. They paid Rs. 6 lakh each and signed the papers in December 2006. They were given employment in Signal International Company, in New Orleans. But to their shock, they were given inhuman and hard labour and were kept like cattle in trucks. They managed to escape and registered a complaint with the authorities against the company and the traffickers.

In May, they took a padayatra from New Orleans to Washington DC seeking protection and justice. On May 14, seventeen workers observed a fast in front of the White House.

A representation was made to a few U.S. Congressmen and they promised to press the Department of Justice to permit continued presence of the victimised Indians in the U.S. to pursue their legal battle.

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