‘No registered recruiting agencies in coastal region’

Hundreds of people from coastal region leave for Gulf countries in search of employment. However, there are no government registered agencies, said Human Rights Protection Foundation (HRPF)-Udupi president Dr Ravindranath Shanbhag.

He was speaking at a workshop on “Problems faced by the emigrants in gulf countries, solution and legal advice’ organised at Catholic Sabha here, recently.

Shanbhag said, “As many as 2.5 lakh people go abroad from India annually. From Mangaluru, 12,000 people go abroad. As many go to foreign countries through agents, it is difficult to get their employment details. A few blacklisted agencies function in Mumbai and other parts of the country.”

He said a few agencies are engaged in luring people on the pretext of employment and later sell them to the rich in Gulf countries.

“Jacintha Mendonca from Mudarangady is the live example for getting duped by a recruiting agency. She suffered at the hands of her master for several months. As the government failed to come to her rescue, we had to release her by paying Rs 5 lakh to the owner of the house who had purchased her through the agency.”

Though the issue was brought to the notice of external affairs minister, the agent still roams freely in Mumbai, he said.