Eight Nepalese migrants lured to Iraq by the promise of a well-paid
job and left stranded on arrival without work, money or documents,
have returned home today with IOM's assistance.

The men are being taken back to their homes where, depending on
IOM obtaining sufficient funding and individual needs, they will be
given reintegration assistance.

The Nepalese migrants were part of a larger group of about 60
Bangladeshi, Indian, Sri Lankan and Nepalese men found camping out
on roadsides near Baghdad's airport in a desperate situation. Their
plight and those of about 1,000 other migrants in a similar
situation at warehouses nearby, has highlighted again the need for
greater protection of migrant workers.

All the migrants had borrowed money, or sold off land,
businesses or homes to pay up to USD 3,000 to middlemen for jobs in
Iraq in the belief that they would earn much higher salaries
there.

Some of the migrants living by the roadside have no shelter and
are covering themselves up with whatever they can find lying around
as winter begins to hit the country. Others are living in tents or
containers but all are without basic amenities such as water and
electricity and most are dependent on ad hoc food assistance.

The men have now been in Iraq for nearly five months, many
without a job or income during that time. Those who have found jobs
themselves, mainly as cleaners or doing other service labour, are
in a vulnerable situation as they are working without papers.

Some men have asked IOM for assistance to return home during two
assessment missions to the groups of migrants at the roadside and
at the warehouse where migrants are unable to leave the site and
have had their passports confiscated.

However, many of the migrants who have asked IOM's assistance
have changed their minds afterwards fearing the pressure of debt
they have incurred getting to Iraq and shame at returning home with
nothing.

"Their situation is a telling one as it illustrates what is at
stake for these men who have given up so much. They want to go
home, but they feel they can't because they would have no means of
paying off the huge debts they have incurred," says Rafiq
Tschannen, IOM Chief of Mission for Iraq. "And by staying, they put
themselves at risk of exploitation and abuse. It is important that
we get adequate funding to not only help them return home but also
provide them with reintegration assistance that can help them get
lives back on track."

Since 2007, the Organization has been assisting migrants who
became victims of human trafficking in Iraq, or who ended up in
exploitative situations, with their voluntary return home along
with medical or reintegration support when needed.

The higher wages being paid for migrant labour in Iraq where
insecurity and violence has led to a shortage of a stable pool of
workers among nationals has attracted workers from Asia as well as
some African countries to Iraq. However, the need for migrant
labour has encouraged human smuggling and trafficking as well as
the abuse of migrants by recruitment companies.

For further information, please contact:

Rafiq Tschannen

IOM Iraq

Tel: +962 79 624 4887

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

or

Jean-Philippe Chauzy

IOM Geneva

Tel: + 41 79 285 4366

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