‘Unpaid, nurses risked their life’

Thiruvananthapuram: The nurses in the Tikrit hospital in Iraq risked their lives and delayed their exit, as they had not been paid salaries for months.

The contract was heavily loaded against them, according to Amnesty International India chief executive G. Ananthapadmanabhan. He told reporters here on Friday that as per the contract, they were entitled to salaries only if they worked for four months.

Several hundred Indian nationals were stranded in the Najaf province of Iraq, unable to return home because their employers refused to return their passports, he said. He also released a report on migrant workers in Saudi Arabia, which wanted a new emigration law to replace the Emigration Act, 1983 consistent with international human rights standards and aligned with progressive emigration management systems.

It asked the government of Saudi Arabia to sign the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

Another recommendation was on reforming the Kafala system prevailing in Saudi Arabia to remove the requirement for migrant workers to obtain the permission of their employer to shift jobs or leave the country.

In November last, Amnesty International had released a report on labour exploitation in Qatar, especially related to the building of infrastructure for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Migrant workers in Qatar were paid lower salaries than promised, made to work excessive hours and provided with poor accommodation, Mr Ananthapadmanabhan said.