HGP Nightly News – Several Indian nationals who were allegedly mistreated while working for an interior company in Guyana say they simply want to be paid, given their airline tickets, and allowed to return home to their families.
The workers made the emotional appeal while picketing, with support from members of We Invest in Nationhood, including Executive Member Tabitha Sarbo-Halley and Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed.
One of the Indian nationals said the group is still waiting on assistance from both the Ministry of Labour and the Indian High Commission.
“We are all waiting for our tickets and our money back, and we need our justice only. We want to go India as well, as soon,” the worker said.
He explained that the workers are currently being housed by a private individual, but said caring for such a large group is difficult.
“We are staying at one good person’s shelter. So how long they will house us? We are all 37. The food is not easy for 37 persons,” he said.
The worker also rejected claims reportedly being made to their families in India that they are missing.
“We are not missing. We are standing here. We met with the embassy. We are meeting with the government. We are in front of the government. Then how can they say we are missing?” he asked, adding that such claims were frightening their relatives.
Sarbo-Halley accused the Ministry of Labour of failing to properly monitor working conditions at the company before the matter became public.
“The Ministry of Labour has the right to send their workers at any point in time to any agency, to any company to figure out what is happening,” she said.
She argued that labour officials should have been checking whether proper working conditions, safety systems, and emergency arrangements were in place.
“The fact that it took the Leader of the Opposition to bring this to light means that something is wrong at the Ministry of Labour. They are not doing their job,” Sarbo-Halley said.
She further claimed that the matter should be treated as trafficking in persons, pointing to allegations that the workers’ passports were taken from them.
“The fact that they took their passports… it is trafficking in person, and so they must be arrested, they must be charged,” she said.
Sarbo-Halley also called for a wider investigation into other companies linked to businessman Saju Bhaskar, saying they should be shut down if they are found to be breaching Guyana’s laws.
Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed also criticised the government’s handling of the matter, saying the workers have been stranded for too long.
“These men worked… and yet they don’t have humanity in them to give them what is owed to them, their money, their airfare back to India, so that they can finally reunite back with their families,” Mohamed said.
He described the situation as “modern day slavery” and accused the administration of failing to act with urgency.
The workers are maintaining that their demands are straightforward: payment of all outstanding wages, airline tickets, justice, and the opportunity to return safely to India.
