"It is in our common interest that such incidents do not recur," Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury said in a letter to the Kuwaiti government. "For the faults of a few, many are being mercilessly deported empty-handed," he said, calling for a probe.
The letter was sent as scores of deported workers told Bangladeshi television that they were tortured in police custody. They showed blood-stained shirts and injuries on their bodies and said they had not been paid the money Kuwaiti employers had promised.
Last week, hundreds of Bangladeshis demonstrated in Kuwait for better pay and living conditions. The protests, some which turned violent, lasted several days, with riot police using batons to break up one rally. Impoverished Bangladesh relies heavily on its expatriate workers who in the past fiscal year sent back $ 8 billion dollars, propping up the country’s shaky balance of payments.
About 200,000 Bangladeshis work in Kuwait, mostly as cleaners and in other low-paid jobs.Thousands have gone on strike in recent months, complaining that their wages were not paid and they had to endure inhuman working conditions.
Kuwait has warned it would not tolerate violence, but said it was also determined to crack down on agents who recruit Asian labour and violate employment contracts once the workers are in the country.
