US Army contractors exploiting poor foreign workers

The Chicago Tribune has a multipart series detailing how Halliburton subcontractors are (sometimes illegally) bringing foreign workers into Iraq with false promises and little protection. Here are the articles:

U.S. cash fuels human trade - Oct. 9

Into a war zone, on a deadly road - Oct. 10

Rescue spares some workers - Oct. 10

The articles are all worth reading, but the introduction to the first article acts as a good summary:

"To maintain the flow of low-paid workers key to military support and reconstruction in Iraq, the U.S. military has allowed KBR to partner with subcontractors that hire laborers from Nepal and other countries that prohibit citizens from being deployed in Iraq. That means brokers recruiting such workers operate illicitly.

"The U.S. military and KBR assume no responsibility for the recruitment, transportation or protection of foreign workers brought to the country. KBR leaves every aspect of hiring and deployment in the hands of its subcontractors. ...

"Working in tandem with counterparts in the Middle East, the brokers in South and Southeast Asia recruit workers from some of the world's most remote areas. They lure laborers to Iraq with false promises of lucrative, safe jobs in nations such as Jordan and Kuwait, even falsifying documents to complete the deception.

"Even after foreign workers discover they have been lured under false pretenses, many say they have little choice but to continue into Iraq or stay longer than planned. They feel trapped because they must repay brokers' huge fees.

Some U.S. subcontractors in Iraq--and the brokers feeding them--employ practices condemned by the U.S. elsewhere, including fraud, coercion and seizure of workers' passports."