One week after tabling the Trafficking of Persons Bill in Parliament, three nationals of India who came to Trinidad in search of a better life have come forward claiming they are victims of a human trafficking ring. The ring was unearthed by Manju Verma, an India national living in Trinidad. Desperate to get Dinesh Chand Jatav, 29, Jagdish Mali, 36, and Babulal Jatav, 29, out of Trinidad, Verma is calling on Foreign Affairs Minister Suruj Rambachan and India Commissioner to T&T Malay Mishra for assistance, stating that this crime was against humanity.
Verma was touched by the men’s plight, having experienced a similar fate. She is also appealing to the police to investigate the Tunapuna businessman behind the trafficking, stating if left unchecked, more foreign labourers would be duped and exploited. Verma said the businessman was in the habit of seizing passports of foreign labourers as well as exploiting, threatening and abusing them. Cleaning toilets were also part of their chores. On November 17, 2009, the men along with Jamana Lal of Jaipur, a poverty-stricken district in India came to Trinidad.
An advertisement in one of India’s newspapers seeking skilled males in granite and marble fabrication for three years in Trinidad was what lured the men to apply for the position. After being screened, the men were accepted and offered $2,700 (TT) monthly, plus a $3,500 apartment which the businessman promised to pay for until their contract of three of the four men expired in 2012. The men were each asked to pay a bond of $30,000 rupees, equivalent to $5,000 (TT), which they were loaned in India and had to repay with interest during a six-month period upon taking up the jobs. Upon completion of the job, the businessman promised to repay the bond in India.
In search of a better life...
pleading to go home
“These guys saw this as an opportunity for a better life, having struggled in India for years and came here,” said Verma, who translated for the men who spoke Hindi at their Macoya apartment on Friday.“But they were duped and exploited for the past 17 months in a human trafficking ring.”As a result of their horrible experiences, the men are pleading to go home.“We are unhappy here. We just want to reunite with our families who are worried sick,” said Mali.Mali said what happened to them was nothing short of human trafficking.
Verma said upon the men’s arrival in Trinidad, their passports were seized and they had to work from sunrise to sunset every day, installing granite and marble countertops at various establishments, mainly hotels and restaurants.Of the $2,700 monthly salary they each collected, Verma said the men sent 70 per cent of their pay to their wives, children and families, keeping the remaining 30 per cent to buy food, clothing and toiletries.“Most times they could barely buy food.”In their apartment, Mali pointed to a bare kitchen cupboard and sheetless beds which they sleep on.
Instilling fear in them
Whenever they had to send a money transfer to India, they would be given their passports, which had to be surrendered to the businessman after the transaction.
Rambachan: We will look into it
Foreign Affairs Minister Suruj Rambachan, in a telephone interview yesterday, said the responsibility of getting the men back home lies in the hands of the High Commission. Rambachan said he would ask National Security Minister John Sandy and Minister in the Ministry of National Security Subhas Panday, who is responsible for immigration, to look into the matter. “Once I get a feedback from both ministers I will talk to Mishra.”
Source: guardian.co.tt
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