INDIA: Hundreds of Indians, hired by US and British security sub-contractors to work ostensibly on engineering projects in the Middle East, ended up as cooks and labourers in US army camps in Iraq where they were inhumanely treated, according to some of them, writes Rahul Bedi in New Delhi.
"We were slaves to the American kitchens," Hameed of southern Kerela state told the widely circulated Hindustan Times yesterday. "Any slip-ups and we were tortured for days," he declared, adding that whenever their camp in Mosul was attacked by Iraqi insurgents, the officers used them as human shields.
Hammed's brother, Shahjahan, claimed that he once complained to the kitchen supervisor that he was a devout Muslim and could not cook pork. "I was beaten up with rifle butts," he told the newspaper.
Last August, the two brothers, along with 25 other Indians, were hired by "labour contractors" to supposedly work on construction sites in Kuwait. Upon arrival, the group was told that it would take them two more days to reach their work site.
"When the journey ended we realised we were in Baghdad," Hameed said.
The group was then handed over to another agent who took them to a military camp in Mosul. There they were informed by US soldiers that they had been "purchased" for a large sum of money and would be employed as cooks and to perform other odd jobs for 40,000 Indian rupees (€742) per month.
The harsh working conditions and the callous treatment began almost immediately, they say, and led to the Indians planning their escape. Their opportunity to flee came when their camp came under intense fire from insurgents a few months after they were incarcerated.
After persuading an Iraqi truck-driver to take them to Baghdad, they travelled to Faluja and onwards to Jordan and Doha.
Their ordeal ended with their arrival in India's port city of Bombay on April 28th, with little to show for their tribulations other than horror stories about the US troops.
Alongside civilians, hundreds of retired Indian soldiers - including at least one major general - were being recruited as mercenaries by private agencies reportedly working for US army contractors for "security related" deployment in Iraq.
Acting on behalf of overseas companies that provide support services to the US army, India's leading "manpower companies" had dispatched retired soldiers between 45 and 55 to Kuwait and Jordan at several times the rate of their meagre pensions.
A private is being offered $750 (€621) a month, and officers from captains to brigadiers between $1,250 (€1,035) and $3,500 (€2,898). A serving brigadier in the Indian army earns around €1000 a month and a private less than half that. The retired soldiers were tasked with protecting key installations such as oil wells, refineries, food convoys and ports.
"We have been sending such personnel to Iraq for the past eight months," retired Capt Swaran Salaria of Trig Guardforce in Bombay said. "There is a demand for trained personnel who can combat terrorism," he added.
Last year, India declined US requests to send troops to Iraq.