IRAQ: Sierra Leoneans Complain Work Too Hard, Some With Fake Certificates

Reports say many went with fake certificates while others complain the work was too hard so they could not fit in the work plan of the company that took them to Iraq.

Some 124 Sierra Leoneans that travelled to Iraq last year Saturday morning returned home.

Reports say many went with fake certificates while others complain the work was too hard so they could not fit in the work plan of the company that took them to Iraq.

Airport Officials told Concord Times the 124 were brought aboard a special flight and they landed at Lungi Airport Saturday at 6:00 AM.

Reports say some others have been returning in small numbers aboard Bellview and other airlines but this is the largest group that have returned so far.

Highly placed Airport Officials say they are expecting another group to arrive soon, but did not elaborate.

Eyewitnesses at the airport when the group arrived say most of those that came were men.

Reports say the general feeling among the returnees was mixed.

Minister of Labour and Industrial Relations, Alpha Timbo reached on his mobile phone while in his Village, Rokulla in the north of the country confirmed the return of the 124 Sierra Leoneans from Iraq.

"Some of them are my brothers and they are here with me," he said but was quick to say that most of those who returned Saturday were sent back because they used fake certificates and could not fit in the work plan in Iraq. The Minister further said that some of those that returned were sent back because they say the work they were given was "too hard." He however said that there are still some who went with unadulterated certificates, about five hundred of them, that are still in Iraq completing their contracts.

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