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Foreign Workers Held in Iraq

Contractor kept 1,000 Asian laborers 3 months in warehouses

By Harry Kimball, Newser Staff

Posted Dec 3, 2008 7:34 PM CST

(Newser) – About 1,000 foreign workers brought to Iraq with the promise of lucrative jobs have been living for 3 months in Baghdad warehouses under poor sanitary conditions and in possible violation of US military rules, McClatchy reports. A Kuwaiti company that subcontracts with KBR, formerly Haliburton, brought the men from Central Asia and elsewhere after charging them $2,000.

“For all of us, there are about 12 toilets and about 10 bathrooms,” one Sri Lankan worker said. The Kuwaiti company, Najlaa, said that employment opportunities with the US military dried up after workers arrived, and that they were kept near the Baghdad airport out of concern for their security. The US military, which has guidelines in place to discourage human labor trafficking, said it was unaware of the situation.

Living conditions at a construction site. (AP Photo)

A worker in Iraq. (AP Photo)

Iraqi women clamor for food. (AP Photo)

An Iraqi army soldier walks in front of Iraqi army vehicles. (AP Photo)

Iraqi furniture factory workers watch US soldiers. (AP Photo)

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Foreign Workers Held in Iraq

Contractor kept 1,000 Asian laborers 3 months in warehouses

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As US Leaves Iraq, It Eyes a Beefier Gulf Presence

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She claimed employees of the military contractor assaulted her

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Contractor kept 1,000 Asian laborers 3 months in warehouses

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Iraq • US military • Halliburton • foreign labor • human trafficking • KBR • subcontractor • Najlaa

MOST POPULAR STORIES

[ By Views ]

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As US Leaves Iraq, It Eyes a Beefier Gulf Presence

US military looking to increase defense ties with states around region

A First: No US Deaths in Iraq in August

Iraqi crackdown, US strikes helped

Watchdog: Iraq Less Safe Than a Year Ago

US inspector issues bleak report 5 months before withdrawal

Texas Woman Loses Rape Case Against KBR

She claimed employees of the military contractor assaulted her

Worker Tells of Rape by US Contractor Crew in Iraq

Jamie Leigh Jones suing KBR

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