India in a dilemma over Iraq crisis

NEW DELHI : The Indian government is in a dilemma about how to tackle the problem of Indian nationals, including retired military personnel, taking up jobs in volatile Iraq at great risk to their lives.

The problem has been compounded by reports that Indian nationals are being forced to work in US military camps against their will and are tortured and mistreated.

There is no provision in service rules to ban retired soldiers from taking up jobs abroad, officials said on Wednesday, adding they had no information about how many of them had taken up jobs in Iraq.

"Unless there is a war or state of emergency, when they are called up as reserves, ex-servicemen are free to take up employment anywhere," a senior defence official told IANS .

He was commenting on reports that some 1,500 Indians, including several former soldiers, had taken up jobs in Iraq and that at least two of them had been killed and three injured in the past few days in clashes with Iraqi militia.

Following newspaper reports that some Indian nationals were treated as slaves in US military camps, the external affairs ministry Tuesday sought information from the US embassy here about the number of Indian nationals employed in this manner.

It also sought information about reports that some of them were compelled to remain in Iraq against their will.

External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha has asked the labour ministry to probe these reports.

On April 15, the external affairs ministry asked the Protector-General of Immigrants to ban "vulnerable" Indians from travelling to Kuwait and Jordan following reports that many people who had travelled to these countries had finally landed up in Iraq .

But immigration officials said it was not possible to stop people with ECNR (emigration check not required) stamped on their passports from travelling abroad.

"Most of them left on the pretext of visiting Dubai and from there went to Kuwait and Iraq ," the defence official said.

Lured by offers of lucrative jobs by travel agents, hundreds of Indians, including former soldiers, are reported to have made their way to Iraq . While the retired solders are working in security-related jobs, others were employed as washermen, cooks, ward-boys and butchers.

Official sources said the government was considering using the services of associations of former servicemen to advise retired soldiers against going to Iraq in view of volatile conditions in that country.

From: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/660469.cms