Trafficked foreign laborers building U.S. Embassy in Iraq? Allegations of abuse and kidnapping
<
p>seattlepi.com Buzzworthy
Allegations of worker abuse and kidnapping by the First Kuwait Trading and Contracting Co., the contractor selected to build the U.S. embassy in Iraq, were flying today before members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
Former American employees John Owens and Rory Mayberry testified that First Kuwait “kidnapped” foreign low-wage laborers to work on the $592 million construction project by lying to them about where they were going.
Workers from the Philippines, India, Pakistan and Sierra Leone were reportedly told they would be working in hotels in Dubai, not Baghdad.
Mayberry’s testimony included:
“I was given my flight information to Baghdad. At this time, First Kuwaiti managers asked me to escort 51 Filipino nationals to the Kuwaiti Airport and make sure they got on the same flight I was taking to Baghdad. Many of these Filipinos did not speak any English.
I wanted to help them make sure they got on their flight O.K., just as my managers had asked. We were all employees of the same company after all.
But when we got to the Kuwaiti Airport, I noticed that all of our tickets said we were going to Dubai. I asked why. A First Kuwaiti manager told me that because Filipino passports do not allow Filipinos to fly to Iraq, they must be marked as going to Dubai. The First Kuwaiti
manager added that I should not tell any of the Filipino they were being taken to Baghdad.
As I found out later, these men thought they had signed up to work in Dubai hotels. One fellow I met told me in broken English that he was excited to start his new job as a telephone repair man.
They had no idea they were being sent to do construction work on the U.S. Embassy.”
“Mr. Chairman, when the airplane took off and the captain announced that we were headed for Baghdad, all you-know-what broke lose on that airplane. People started shouting. It wasn’t until a security guy working for First Kuwaiti waved an MP-5 in the air that people settled down.”
“They realized they had no other choice but to go to Baghdad.
Let me spell it out clearly. I believe these men were kidnapped by First Kuwaiti to work on the U.S. Embassy.”
Representatives from the State Department said they inspected the project site and reportedly found nothing wrong. Here is their account of things.
But Mayberry, read that report, too, and he says:
“I’ve read the State Department Inspector General report on the construction of the embassy, Mr. Chairman. It’s not worth the paper it’s printed on. This is a cover-up. I’m glad that I have this opportunity to set the record straight.”
Here is all the testimony, both from Owens and Mayberry, as well as representatives from the State Department, including Howard Krongard, the inspector general in charge of investigating the project. [more]