16 Indians working in bonded labour like conditions in a Libyan cement factory Photo: Special Arrangement
The 16 Indian workers who were stuck in Libya for the past 10 months will leave for India today (February 4, 2025). Arrangements for their return to India have been completed, sources informed The Hindu on Tuesday.
Sixteen Indian workers had alleged that they were being held in “prison-like conditions” at the Libyan Cement Company’s Benghazi plant since September 2024, ever since they protested long work hours, erratic pay and the flouting of contractual agreement by their employer.
The workers are from various parts of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. When The Hindu spoke to two of them, they had said their travel from India via Dubai was facilitated by a Dubai-based “contractor” Abu Bakkar, a Libyan national. Trouble began in September last year, when Mithilesh Vishwakarma, from Gorakhpur in eastern Uttar Pradesh, noticed a steep pay cut. Soon wage payments turned erratic and workhours, which were stipulated to be eight-and-a-half hours when he joined, began getting longer, so much so that it doubled about four months back, with employees being called past midnight to work unscheduled shifts.
A confrontation occurred in September when the Indian workers sought their unpaid wages and asked for reduced work hours. “The contractor flew down from Dubai when he heard this. He beat two of us black and blue, and forced us to work that day,” said Mr. Vishwakarma. Since then, they have not been working and neither have they been paid.
The Libyan Cement Company has workers from across South Asia working at its Benghazi plant. Some of them have been helping their Indian counterparts since the protests began, by buying provisions and food.
Published – February 04, 2025 02:21 pm IST
