A note to Gaum bhavs, to take care when seeking jobs in Middle East.... Regards Eddie Verdes Chinchinim/Jeddah/KSA
Cops detain Iraq-bound passengers http://web.mid-day.com/news/city/2005/april/106857.htm The Bureau of Immigration at the Mumbai international airport detained 24 passengers on Sunday night on the suspicion that they were bound for Iraq, a country for which work permits are banned by the Indian government. “They were going to Sharjah on an Indian Airlines flight with a tourist visa and their documents showed their profession as businessmen. They looked like blue-collared workers so we questioned them and they confessed that they were going to Iraq,” said a senior immigration official. All 24 persons hailed from Karimnagar district of Andhra Pradesh and had paid a local agent Rs 60,000 each for the work visa in Iraq. “They were initially told that they would be getting work in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). But after they had paid the money, their agent told them that UAE was no longer possible and now they had to go to Iraq,” said the official. Left with no other option after paying the agent, the workers agreed to go to Iraq, oblivious of the Indian government’s policy of not issuing visas for Iraq. “The Mumbai liaison agent has been arrested and is being charged for cheating. The 24 passengers will be made witnesses in the case,” said a Sahar police station official. Forwarded by Eddie Verdes