Whether it be labor contractors D&P, PPI, UPI, ESS or others, they are all contracted to provide Third Country National (workers from outside of Iraq) and Host Country National (Iraqi’s) labor to KBR and the other US contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan. Every dollar paid to these labor contractors comes from US tax dollars. Your tax dollars.
Human trafficking issues are not new in Iraq. Substandard living conditions for these people are prevalent. Kidnapping and deceptive hiring techniques are a common business practice. To allow these things to happen is unconscionable.
For KBR to claim they were unaware of these practices and conditions is absurd.
In response to the Washington Post article “KBR, Partner in Iraq Contract Sued in Human Trafficking Case” Heather Browne, a spokeswoman for KBR wrote in an e-mailed statement : “KBR has not seen the lawsuit so it is premature for us to comment at this time. The safety and security of all employees and those the company serves remains KBR’s top priority. The company in no way condones or tolerates unethical or illegal behavior.”
I don’t think plausible deniability is going to help KBR and the labor contractors out much. And it shouldn’t.
Most of all…I wanted to make sure you understood your role in this whole thing. Your tax dollars paid for it. Contact your Senator or Representative and tell them to put a stop to this.
Ms Sparky
The comments posted on this site are the sole opinion of the comment poster and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of this site owner.
6 comments
Debbie, I know all too well the conditions that these TCN’s are required to live in. I was at Al Asad Marine Air Base at the end of May until the second week of June 2008, and was housed at “Bunker Hill” A tented community for Lear Siegler employees. Across the street from our camp was a camp for the TCN’s. They housed approximately 2,000 men or more in the camp. They were tented 20 men to a 10 man tent. They were also required, all 2,000 of them to share a 3 stall shower. They cooked their meals at their camp for I could smell the scent of it daily during my lunch and dinner breaks. I would often see all 2,000 of them running from their labor hut down to their camp to get at the lunch or evening meal. And trust me it took at least 10 minutes for the complete line of workers to pass by me as I sat at the bus stop in front of their camp. I would wonder to myself it the line ever ended? The conditions they are living in to me are deplorable. I was not allowed into their camp, but being as they have no females there I really did not want to take a look even as curious as I am. You often see some of them walking holding hands and talking among each other but the way they stare you down is what got to me most. The moment they see a woman their eye’s stay focused on her until she is no longer in site. I cant say that I was ever afraid of them but wary would be more to the point. I was told that they are required to turn over their passports to KBR and that if they ever left base to go back to their home country they were not allowed back in Iraq. To me this is kidnapping and human trafficking at its best. I was told upon arriving at Al Asad that they had found 4 civilian contractors dead in field close to where I lived and that no one ever talked about who they were or what happened, only to say that I shouldn’t go into the area alone and never at night. There are speculations that these contractors were killed by TCN’s but no clear proof. KBR and LSI make sure that no bad new’s or worries are spread through out the camp.
Ms Sparky’s Response:
Four Dead Civilian Contractors?? I Googled this…nothing. Why are we not hearing about this. I would love to talk to you more about this.
http://icasualties.org/oif/
Ms Sparky’s Response:
Thanks!
I feel like this took the breath out of me when i read this. I dont understand some of the linguistics of it but i can make out most of it and i think that something has to be done…sometimes i feel like the issue of human trafficking in whatever area it might be (sex trade, child labor, anything) is overwhelming and is really hard to cope with. I feel like the movie Call and Response put it in great words…”when we hear about slavery, that still exists today within our world, people are moved, they get angry and they want to do something but then when we hear that it is within our country, within our cities and neighborhoods that passion to do something turns to despair at the fact that this issue is so big..”
Ms Sparky’s Response:
Thank you for your passionate comment. I too am moved to do something. That’s why I blog about it. People don’t know this is going on. And most importantly…people do not know that your US Tax dollars are supporting it!
Interesting blog and intriguing to read these concerns about TCNs. I’ve been in Camp Victory for over 20 months and the most arrogant/rude/racist/insulting people I came across were , without fail, from KBR.
Ms Sparky’s Response:
Unfortunately KBR has some very very bad people working for them. But they also have some good people too that care about the treatment of TCN’s. I’d love to hear more about your job and contractor at Victory.
You know , its really funny. Without TCNs there would be no food water electricity no nothing and yet……
But with staging yard grunts getting $120K a year, I would act like a fool too, especially when I hd a TCN to do all the grunting for me and at probably $300 a month……
And then when they decided to build double roofs for the DFACs to give them ovehead protection, it was only in the eating areas,NOT over the kitchens,where ofcourse the TCNs were….
I am a TCN working for a freight forwarder and though am the country manager,it just doesn’t register with the Caucasians , just cos my skin is not…you know……
Ms Sparky’s Response:
I don’t disagree with you. But many TCN’s are being exploited. They are being kidnapped and brought to Iraq against their will. They are living in deplorable conditions. They are being held in Iraq against their will. Some are not being paid. Their camps are overcrowded. Their food is unacceptable by any standard. You’ve had to see this with PPI and others.
Vanity Fair :::The American corporation Halliburton has admitted that its then subsidiary KBR paid $2.4 million in bribes to the Nigerian government and is under investigation for its role in earlier bribes totaling $180 million. And House representative William Jefferson, of Louisiana, is being investigated by the F.B.I. for allegedly accepting bribes from the vice president of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar. These were said to be in exchange for help steering lucrative business contracts to Africa. (Jefferson has denied any wrongdoing, despite the fact that the F.B.I. found $90,000 in cash in his freezer.)(http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/02/junger200702?currentPage=4)
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