Tamils work like slaves in Saudi

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Two Tamils, who had gone to Saudi Arabia looking for greener pastures but landed in camel farms and worked as slaves, deprived of proper food and salary, are desperate to return to their homeland.

Mr A. Muniyasamy,47, hailing from Ramanathapuram district, and Mr M. Jagabar Ali ,46, from Nagapattinam, in Tamil Nadu, had gone to Saudi Arabia in January on being promised construction jobs. But when they landed there, they were taken to a far-off desert and forced to work as slaves in camel farms after an agent sold them to the farm-owner.

The duo had paid Rs1.50 lakh each to the local agents before flying to the Gulf country with dreams of making big money, but were shattered on being taken to a desert as “bonded labourers”.

Ms Prabavathy, wife of Mr Muniyasamy, who is struggling with her three children at Melasirupothu village, in Ramanathapuram district, said the local agent had promised a monthly salary of Rs12,000 for her husband and they sold their jewellery to pay the Rs1.50 lakh commission.

“I had the shock of my life when my husband called two months after reaching Saudi that he was working as a slave in a camel farm,” Ms Prabavathy said before breaking down. “We thought we will give better education to our children with his salary, but our dreams are shattered,” she said, and appealed to chief minister J. Jayalalithaa to secure the release of her husband.

Manitham, a Chennai-based human rights organisation, has also taken up the issue with the Indian embassy and external affairs ministry. It has sent letters with photographs of the two Tamils working in the camel farm, urging the authorities to take immediate steps to secure their release.

“They are in a pathetic condition and undergoing untold miseries. They are made to work for several hours without rest,” Mr Agni Subramanian of Manitham said.