Hyderabad: Twenty-four Indians from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha have been suffering in a prison-like room in Riyadh for the past two months. The young men are sharing a room with only one toilet.
Hyderabad consultants processed their visas and projected them as skilled labourers such as fitters, draughtsmen, and plumbers.
They were sent in batches of five. When they started suffering there, managers did not take their responsibility. They are now living on charity provided by other Telugus, reported DC.
Though shown as skilled workers, ‘masters’ in Riyadh offered these men unskilled jobs like cooking, ploughing, gardening and cleaning after seizing their passports. While speaking to Mumbai Mirror over the phone from Riyadh, one of the youths said, “When we express our inability to do the unskilled jobs, they are asking us to pay 12,600 riyals (nearly Rs 2.2 lakh in Indian currency) each to cancel the work agreement and return our passports”.
Their movements have been restricted with the starting of Ramadan. Some of the men have been reported to be sick.