Prbhakar Ghimire

After spending more than 22 months in Libya, Bhakta Adhikari of Pokhari VDC-2 in Sindhuli district, returned home empty-handed to face a debt amounting to more than Rs 80,000, in addition to accumulated interest, to a local landlord.

Adhikari had spend more than Rs 250,000 on manpower agencies in hopes of getting a job in Macau, only to land in Libya, where he had to suffer more than four and a half month of an inhumane and tortuous existence.

After frequent disruptions in the operations of his employer company, he was left completely jobless from April when CKG Construction Company was dissolved. “We would never have landed in Libya had we been informed in advance about the working environment there. We are cheated with false promises by the manpower agencies recruiting us,” said Adhikari.

He had attempted to find a job in Macau through Quality Manpower Agency before being handed over to Dhaulagiri Manpower, which ultimately transported him to Libya. “I was forced to accept a job in Libya, something I was not interested in, as there was no choice left for me,” he said.

Altogether 108 Nepali workers were encamped inside the company compound in Libya for four and a half months, and Adhikari was among 61 of those repatriated to Nepal on Tuesday and Wednesday under the initiative of the Nepal government and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The company had offered Rs 27,000 to Rs 30,000 per month in pay, excluding overtime and other benefits, to the stranded workers. They had reached Libya on different dates from November 2008.

Ainzera Housing Project- a parent organization of CKG Construction Company- has paid airfare from Tripoli to Kathmandu, around Rs 50,000 per person, for the returning workers. The fate of the remaining 47 workers is still uncertain as the employer company has not arranged their air tickets to Kathmandu, accusing them of quitting the company.

The returnees said the passports of the remaining workers are still in the possession of the company. They are waiting for a sponsor agency to fly them to Kathmandu as exit visas have already been issued for them.
Prakash Pandey of Nuwakot has a similar story to tell. “We had to face not only financial problems and worry about our families back home, but also suffer sub-human living conditions and eat poor quality food (rice without any curry or curry without rice)” said Pandey. “We couldn´t even get clean drinking water in our camp,” he added.

All 108 workers had to live in a crammed hut without electricity for lighting or air-conditioning in the baking heat of Tripoli, the Libyan capital. “We were suffering different illnesses including fever but we couldn´t get any medical care from the employer company,” said another returnee, Suresh Khadka of Benighat, Gorkha.
Surya Limbu of Katare, Dhankuta, another returnee, who spent Rs 290,000 to get the Libyan job, has hardly been able to pay back Rs 154,000 out of his total debt.

“I am at a loss how to return home and face my money lender. It is sheer betrayal by the company and recruiting agencies,” said Limbu who was a grocer before leaving for Libya. Most returnees like Adhikari and Limbu have not the courage to confront their financial problems back home.

After going through the months-long ordeal, the returnees have come to the conclusion that work and life in Libya are highly insecure, and suggested that any aspirant for jobs there beware of fraudulent manpower agencies and their promises of lucrative work.

Published on: 20 August 2010 | Republica