Heartbroken they return

Conned by a fake overseas manpower recruiting agency, these men ended up in war-ravaged Iraq before managing to return to Dhaka yesterday. PHOTO: STAR

Cheated out by manpower agencies, 13 Bangladeshis returned home from Iraq yesterday ending their harrowing ordeal of a week.

Each of the young fortune-seekers paid between Tk 120,000 and 160,000 to the recruiting agencies, Kazi Air and Greenline International, for jobs in Jordan.

They could not realise they only had transit visa for Jordan and tourist visa for Iraq as agency men gave back their passports and so-called employment documents just before they boarded a Gulf Air flight on April 17.

Oblivious of the reality, the young men went to Amman via Dubai, from where the agents took them to Iraq by car.

"Rolled and bumped, the car went on, for about a thousand kilometres," said Sarwar of Rajshahi at the Jatiya Press Club premises on arrival. "Looking at signboards, we were startled to know that we are in Baghdad. Panicked, we started to ask the driver why he had brought us to Baghdad."

The driver dropped them in the Masco area without giving any satisfactory answer.

As they stepped into the war-ravaged city, they realised how mercilessly they were cheated out and burst into tears.

"Walking like men possessed in that night, we suddenly met two Bangladeshis. They sent us to a transport office," recalled Azizul of Bogra. "We pleaded with the office owner to give us two cars for $240 so that we can travel to Amman."

The owner finally obliged them. Spending the night inside a battered house, they set out for Amman the next morning. Much to their horror, they saw the two compatriots lying dead in rubble on their way out of the city.

"Hearts lunged to our throats when US soldiers stopped us on the road and searched us thoroughly," said Imam Hossain of Feni.

They heaved a huge sigh of relief when they were cleared to go. "But as soon as we reached the border, we faced a new problem. Jordan's immigration officials refused to let us enter and pushed us back to Iraq. Then the Iraqi immigration did the same."

They remained stranded at the border for two days with no authorities willing to accept them. Their sordid story could hardly reach the hearts of immigration officials of the two countries because of the language barrier.

"We could neither sleep nor did we have anything to eat for two long days," said Narayanganj's Mustafizur Rahman with tears rolling down his cheeks. "Finally, the Jordanian authorities allowed us to sit under the open sky inside their border. We managed to get a bread and some water from a truck driver following a lot of pleadings."

As hours wore on, the Jordanian police contacted the Gulf Air authorities and luck finally started to smile on them. The police took them to Amman by a car Friday. They boarded a Gulf Air flight from there and reached Dhaka yesterday.

"We sold out our property and borrowed money to get there and work for modest salaries," sobbed Ujjal, also from Narayanganj.

"We did no harm to anyone, why they cheat on poor people like us?" he asked

Other victims are Salam Sarkar (Rajshahi), Zahidul Islam (Narayanganj), Razzak (Chandpur), Rafiqul Islam (Pabna), Aminul Islam (Sylhet), Delwar Hossain (Sunamganj) and Almas Khan (Mymensingh).