Hundreds of semi-skilled and illiterate unemployed youth from the erstwhile undivided district have been falling prey to the fake Gulf agents, consequently landing either in jails or ending their life in the Middle East, unable to face difficulties there.
Gulf agents, who have no authorisation either from the Ministry of Labour or Ministry External Affairs or from the State government, are fleecing them.
Circle of despair
The youth seeking to go to the Gulf in search of livelihood pay between ₹1.50 and ₹2 lakh, borrowing the money at higher interest rates from money lenders, only to find themselves cheated upon landing in the Gulf countries. Youth generally go to the UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Yemen, Bahrain, Iraq and Qatar in search of employment.
Recently, fourteen persons who had gone to Iraq were stranded in a war-torn Basra which reverberated with gunshots between Iraqi forces and ISIS terrorists. They belong to different villages in the old district and also from Nirmal and Jagityal. The victims, called from there and narrated their woes to the Gulf Telangana Welfare and Cultural Association (GTWCA) president, Patkuri Basanth Reddy.
There are at least 200 fake Gulf agents in the old district. They attract the gullible unemployed youth assuring them of attractive salary, comfortable life and other benefits in the Gulf.
According to a study at least 40 immigrant workers from the State have either ended life or died of ill-health. Unable to come back home, most of them commitsuicide. Sometimes their bodies even don’t reach their native place. Many are languishing in jails as their documents were found to be illegal. Very few persons go with “Akama” or proper employment visa, says Basanth Reddy.
He says awareness campaign in association with police, revenue, VDCs, gram panchayats, volunteers and district administration has to be carried out on a large scale to wean away youth from going to the Gulf.
In December last year, Commissioner of Police Kartikeya had said that a special cell would be opened appointing an SI rank officer as its head at the Commissionerate to keep a check on the Gulf agents.
However, the cell hasn’t been operational yet and the reasons for it is yet to be known. He also had said fake agents would be arrested but no such arrests have been made till date.