Illegal immigrants stranded in Iraq return to Hyderabad

​Hyderabad: It was a moment of joy and happiness for the family members of illegal immigrants who were stranded in Iraq and returned to the city on Wednesday morning. The immigrants were received by the State government officials and their family members at the railway station. 

With the intervention of the State government, India Foreign Affairs Ministry brought the 14 immigrants to New Delhi on Tuesday and they were sent to Hyderabad by train.

Telangana Gulf Welfare Association president P Basanth Reddy said that the immigrants arrived by a flight to New Delhi from Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan. They reached Hyderabad safely on Wednesday morning. All of them hailed from Nizamabad district. He thanked TRS MP from Nizamabad K Kavitha for taking the initiative to bring back stranded immigrants who went to Iraq for livelihoods. They were struggling for the last five months in Iraq for food and work. Reddy said that they were sent to Iraq by fake agents and their passports were seized by the employer who house arrested them.

Several workers from Nizamabad, Adilabad and Karimnagar are falling prey to illegal agents, he said. Reddy asserted that the State government should take initiative to curb the growing menace of fake agents in north Telangana districts particularly.  One of the victims said that they were cheated by the local agent. 

After landing in Iraq’s capital Baghdad, the police took them into custody and sent them to Erbil where their employer detained them without work and food. There experienced hell during their five months stay. Meanwhile, Kavitha assured them of providing employment in their local areas under self-employment scheme or in any private institutions.