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Michael updates last night's report about the contract workers brought to Iraq and then stranded with no jobs and no way to leave. The situation is indeed deteriorating rapidly.
KIRAN
CHETRY: Welcome back to the "Most News in the
Morning." It's a disturbing story from Iraq. Foreign
laborers duped by a U.S. Defense Department
subcontractor into coming to Iraq for nonexistent
jobs, then being forced to live in deplorable
conditions. CNN's Michael Ware is live in Baghdad.
He's been telling their story and looking into this
more for us.
Hi, Michael.
MICHAEL WARE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey,
Kiran. Yes, it's as if there wasn't enough misery in
this war. What we're seeing is this dreadful
situation with more than 1,000 Asian contract
laborers brought to Iraq for jobs that didn't exist.
And the situation as we're hearing may be
deteriorating rapidly. But I'll give you more on that
after we see what this is all about.
WARE: And that scrutiny is taking place, with eyes
now turned to this camp, indeed, even at this hour,
Kiran. What we've heard is that overnight, within
hours of us leaving that compound, buses tried to
ferry 160 workers to the airport itself. However,
after months and months without pay and being
interned, these men who are amongst the poorest of
the poor, are less than penniless. So there's few
options for them.
Then we heard reports from inside the camp that
they'd been told their food and water would be cut
off on Monday, and now we've just had more reports
from inside the camp that Iraqi police have arrived
at the camp and according to a text on my phone,
they've surrounded it. We're now attempting to
confirm to see whether that's true or not. Either
way, it appears the situation is rapidly
deteriorating for these beleaguered men -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Wow. All right. Michael Ware, the
developments coming in fast and furious due to your
reporting in part. Okay, thank you so much for that.
Michael
also did an earlier report, which I missed due to a
cable outage.
BookAsylum from ATA was kind enough to send me this:
MICHAEL
WARE: And this appalling crisis here in the midst of
the war zone in Iraq continues to lurch along.
Overnight we had reports from inmates within this
worker's labor camp and they are telling us that
buses showed up in the middle of the night to drag
160 of them to the airport without receiving any
money or any assistance whatsoever.
The workers did not get on the buses and now they are
telling us that they are being told by the site
manager at the camp that their food and water is
going to be cut off on Monday. So, someone is going
to have to do something about this --Kiran.
KIRAN CHETRY: Well, it's great that you are bringing
attention to that situation. That is appalling to say
the least. Michael Ware for us this morning in
Baghdad. Thank you.