A group of five Sri Lankan migrants taken against their knowledge
to work as cleaners in Iraq are the latest to be helped return home
today by IOM as other cases come to the fore, highlighting an
emerging trend in labour exploitation and human trafficking.

Since early February when IOM rescued 17 Sri Lankans stranded in
northern Iraq after being unknowingly taken to Erbil and
sub-contracted to work there by their agent, the Organization has
helped a total of 30 nationals from the South Asian country.

Today's group and another eight Sri Lankans assisted in early
March contacted IOM after hearing of the successful assistance
given to the 17 men in February. According to the men, they had
been recruited by and sub-contracted to the same agents as their
fellow nationals and also taken to Erbil to work.

Almost all the Sri Lankans had initially sought employment in
the Gulf region, a well established practice among workers
originating in South Asia and the Horn of Africa. En route, it
appears some fell victim to rogue recruiters who, unbeknownst to
them, arranged instead for their deployment to Iraq.

The migrants say that after having their papers confiscated,
they were working as much as 16 hours a day, seven days a week as
cleaners or domestic workers for as little as US$100 a month and
had limited freedom of movement. Before taking the men home today,
IOM had provided them with shelter in addition to convincing the
agent to release them. 

Their return comes as the plight of additional groups of
Filipino, Somali and Ethiopian nationals including women and
families lured to Iraq by promises of secure, high-paying jobs with
foreign companies engaged in the reconstruction of the country, is
brought to IOM's attention.

The migrants have instead found themselves exploited by local
employers with little if any remuneration. These include several
women working as domestic workers in Northern Iraq who say that in
addition to working long hours, they have no freedom of
movement.

IOM is currently working on how best to help these groups of
migrants in coordination with Iraqi and respective consular
authorities but the absence of adequate institutional and legal
frameworks governing the status of foreign workers in Iraq makes it
doubly difficult to provide assistance to people in such
situations.

Foreign workers seeking employment in Iraq often have no choice
but to initiate contact with ‘recruitment' entities who
effectively engage in smuggling activities as authorities in
various traditional labour-sending countries, including the
Philippines, India, Bangladesh and Nepal, have introduced a formal
ban against their nationals working in Iraq. This followed
abduction campaigns targeted against foreign workers in Iraq in
2004 and 2005.

"Although IOM has evacuated close to 7,000 migrants from Iraq
over the past 4 years with financial support from the US
government, these recent developments indicate that we are
witnessing new patterns of exploitation emerging," said IOM's
Vincent Houver, responsible for the evacuation of third country
nationals from Iraq. "However, the choice to escape and return home
is not necessarily an obvious one as individuals have usually
amassed significant debts at home and would not have much else to
return to."

In a bid to address this debt issue, IOM is working to ensure
migrants who are assisted by the Organization are provided adequate
reintegration assistance at home that could also help with starting
up new businesses and learning new skills.

For further information, please contact:

Vincent Houver

Tel: +962 79 622 89 55

E-mail: "mailto:vhouver@iom-iraq.net">vhouver@iom-iraq.net

Priyantha Kalatunge

IOM Sri Lanka

Tel: +94 11 536 1941

E-mail: "mailto:priyanthak@iomsrilanka.org">priyanthak@iomsrilanka.org

For interviews in Arabic, please contact:

Redouane Saadi

IOM Geneva

Tel: +41 22 717 4321

E-mail: "mailto:rsaadi@iom.int">rsaadi@iom.int