Federal prosecutors are investigating a Kuwaiti company with heavy ties to Halliburton International, probing allegations that foreign employees were brought to work on the massive Bagdhad US Embassy project against their will and prevented from leaving war ravaged Iraq. The United States Department of Justice launched the investigation of First Kuwaiti General Trading & Contracting Co. (FKTC) when former employees, mostly third world nationals charged that workers at the company were misled by recruiters. They were hired for civilian jobs in Kuwait and Dubai, only to wind up in Iraq instead. A group of Filipino workers attempted a mutiny when they learned of the company's real intention but was subdued by machine gun toting security personnels. According to the allegations, FKTC even confiscated the workers' passports to avert the possibility of escape from Iraq.
Documents describe human trafficking violations by DOD contractors in Iraq (tags)
With private security firm Blackwater USA under fire for its role in a recent shooting incident in Baghdad, new details are emerging about another problem involving contractors in Iraq: the working and living conditions of international laborers employed on U.S. government projects.