All 48 migrant workers from Jharkhand who had been stranded in Tunisia for nearly three months returned home safely on Saturday following the state government’s intervention, officials said.
The workers, hailing from Hazaribagh, Giridih, and Bokaro districts, had been employed by a private company in Tunisia but were left unpaid and without food after the firm allegedly stopped their wages.
According to the officials, the matter came to light on October 31, when the workers shared distress videos from Tunisia, pleading for help. “Chief Minister Hemant Soren took note of the workers’ plight on social media and directed officials to ensure their safe return at the earliest. Following his intervention, the district administrations of Hazaribagh, Giridih, and Bokaro began coordinating efforts to bring the stranded workers home,” an official said.
In collaboration with the Tunisian Government, a rescue process was initiated. Jharkhand’s labour department said the workers’ pending dues had been settled and that arrangements for their return tickets completed. The Tunisian authorities had earlier informed that the workers would be repatriated by the first week of November.
After returning to India, the workers expressed their happiness and thanked the state government for ensuring their safe return.
Among the returnees was Jeevadhan Mahato, 32, from Vishnugarh block of Hazaribagh district, who said he had no choice but to migrate for work to support his family. “We don’t have money, and I have to pay for my children’s education and other expenses,” he said. “There’s no other option left for me, so I’ll soon go back to Hyderabad for work.” Mahato, who had earlier worked in Hyderabad and a few countries, said they were promised good wages but received nothing for months.
Kailash Mahato, 40, also a resident of Vishnugarh, said the workers had been in Tunisia for about four months and had not been paid for nearly three months after joining the company. “We didn’t receive our salaries for months. Now that we are back, we will have to look for work again. I will probably go to Hyderabad; we can’t just sit at home as we have to educate our children and run the family,” he said. Kailash, who has earlier worked in Hyderabad and in places such as Egypt, Dubai, and parts of Africa, said most workers like him often get trapped in contractor-led jobs where companies do not take direct responsibility for workers’ payments or facilities.
‘No steady job at home’
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The workers said they were recruited through an Indian contractor who claimed to have a sub-contract with a major firm. “They told us our contracts would be given in Tunisia, but nothing was shared in writing until we got there,” said Jeevadhan. “We were taken from Delhi to Tunisia on the promise of a better deal.”
After their ordeal, many of the workers said they want to stay in India for now, though several admitted they might have to migrate again for work. “There’s no steady job at home…After the harvest season, we sit idle for months. We have children to feed and school fees to pay. That’s why people like us take the risk of going abroad,” said Kailash.
This is not the first instance of Jharkhand’s migrant workers facing distress abroad. Earlier this year, several workers from Bagodar block in Giridih district were reportedly abducted in Niger, another African country, and remain untraced. One worker was killed in Niger in a militant attack in July, while one died last month in Saudi Arabia during an exchange of fire between the police and local criminals.
