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Article

2 Dec 2008

Author:
Adam Ashton, McClatchy Newspapers

Military contractor in Iraq holds foreign workers in warehouses

About 1,000 Asian men who were hired by a Kuwaiti subcontractor to the U.S. military have been confined for as long as three months in windowless warehouses near the Baghdad airport without money or a place to work. Najlaa International Catering Services, a subcontractor to KBR...hired the men...On Tuesday, they staged a march outside their compound to protest their living conditions...a Sri Lankan man told McClatchy..."For all of us, there are about 12 toilets and about 10 bathrooms..."...[Najlaa]...announced that it would return the [men] to their home countries and pay them back salaries. Najlaa officials contended that they've cared for the men's basic needs while the company has tried to find them jobs in Iraq...KBR didn't answer direct questions about the warehouses but issued a two-paragraph statement. "When KBR becomes aware of potential violations of international laws regarding trafficking in persons, we work, within our authority, to remediate the problem..." [also refers to Sabre]