200 Indians working in Baghdad palace

About 200 Indians are among the 250 odd people working for American troops in former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's Republican Palace in Baghdad, says a Keralite who has returned home with fresh tales of discrimination and harassment.

After the shocking story of four Muslim men from Kollam in Kerala, who returned after nine months' stay and spoke of how they were forced to cook pork even though it was against their religion, another Keralite has come back with ugly tales of life under US troops in Iraq.

Gopalakrishnan's story is only the latest twist in the sordid controversy over US troops in Iraq not only abusing Iraqi prisoners but also ill-treating Indian workers in the country.

Like several Indians, many of them from Kerala, Gopalakrishnan from Kulathur near Thiruvananthapuram was recruited by a company in Kuwait but sent to Iraq instead.

The Kuwaiti company that recruited Gopalakrishnan has also supplied workers to four other military camps in Iraq.

"I went on a visa to Kuwait six months ago. But after reaching Kuwait, I was put on a taxi by my Kuwaiti employer that took me to Iraq. I reached a huge palace, which I later understood was Saddam Hussein's Republican Palace where close to 7,000 US troops are staying," said Gopalakrishnan, who returned home only two days ago.

He was put to work in the kitchen.

According to him, more than 250 people work in the palace. Of them, about 200 are Indians, including 100 from Kerala.

"In the military camp, the sound of guns firing was a normal phenomenon and I was not able to sleep properly fearing for my life. In the first two months, we were not paid the promised salary of Rs. 20,000," Gopalakrishnan said.

However, after that the salary was paid according to what was written in the contract.

Life was tough. There was no freedom, the workers could not speak to their families when they wanted to and even letters had to be screened through US officials.

"There were specific times for this and that. It was extremely difficult for us to speak to our near and dear ones," he said.

When life became too miserable, some workers protested and were not given a month's salary.

Though Gopalakrishnan and others have given some idea of how many Indians and Keralites might be working in Iraq, the state government admits that there are no exact figures.

Chief of the state agency for non-resident Keralites Roots-Norka, Satish Nampoothiripad, said there were no official figures of Keralites in Iraq.

Officially however, the central government and its labour ministry have given work permits to just 390 Indians.

"This has been a problem for some time now because those who are recruited from here go with proper work permits either to Jordan or Kuwait. Once they reach there, they are taken to Iraq.

"Due to this, it is difficult to get proper information on the exact number of Keralites in Iraq. We do not have a single complaint from any one here about their near ones in Iraq. But we are in regular touch with the ministry of external affairs," said Nampoothiripad.

There are reports that another worker, George Thomas, is on his way back to Kerala from Iraq after the Indian mission in Baghdad made arrangements for his transfer.

The four from Kollam, who first exposed the inhumane treatment by US troops, have petitioned the collector and senior police officials against the recruiting agency that processed their papers.

From: http://www.newkerala.com/news-daily/news/features.php?action=fullnews&showcomments=1&id=15458