Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nickolay Mladenov to Iraqi counterpart: Thank you for being true friends in difficult times
26 October 2011 News
The group of seven Bulgarian workers who were abandoned by their employer in Baghdad have returned to Bulgaria
Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nickolay Mladenov today sent a letter to Hoshyar Zebari, Foreign Minister of Iraq, thanking him for his assistance in resolving the case involving a group of Bulgarian workers. “We are extremely grateful for your help and that you were true friends in difficult times,” the letter said.
The Bulgarians, together with a further 210 people of various nationalities, were employed to carry out work on behalf of the Government of Iraq. Instead of their promised pay, they received only a few hundred dollars during the January – April period, after which the subcontractor to the project left Iraq, taking with him the money for the employees’ salaries. The workers were left in severe living conditions, their contracts of employment could not be found, they had not been registered with the police within the 10-day deadline set by law and they had no work permits.
Thanks to the mission of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Baghdad, the workers began to receive food and water. Minister Mladenov took up the matter with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iraq during a meeting in New York. Meanwhile the case had been drawn to the attention of other members of the Iraqi government and Iraqi lawmakers.
As a result, Iraq's Foreign Ministry granted monetary compensation to the Bulgarian workers in Baghdad and is preparing legal proceedings against the employer to get the agreed remuneration paid out.
Bulgaria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses its gratitude to the mission of the International Organization for Migration in Baghdad for their exceptional efforts and concern in caring for the Bulgarian workers.
The MFA reminds all those who enter into employment contracts with employers regarding work in other countries that it is essential to have a flawless contract and to ensure that the employer fulfils local legal requirements.