Indian Workers in Libya Face Prison-like Conditions

• 16 Indian workers have been held in “prison-like” conditions at Libya Cement Company’s Benghazi plant for four months due to protests against unpaid wages and long work hours.

• The workers, from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, have been facilitated by a Libyan national, Abu Bakkar, who paid for his air ticket and made arrangements for a tourist visa for Libya.

• Work hours have doubled, and workers are called past midnight to work unscheduled shifts.

• A confrontation occurred in September when workers sought their unpaid wages and asked for reduced work hours.

• The workers have been cooped up in two rooms and have not left the factory premises due to fear of being apprehended by local police for lack of legal identification documents.

• The workers are currently being assisted by an Indian community social worker, Tabassum Mansoor, the principal of the Benghazi-based Indian International School.

• The Tunis embassy has a government of India travel ban to Libya since April 2016, citing security considerations.

• Fake recruitment agencies exploit the unemployed in rural areas by advertising fake high-paying overseas jobs.