The US plans to open its ‘Vatican-sized' diplomatic enclave in Baghdad by September and workers from Karimnagar, Adilabad and Nizamabad are now racing against time to meet the deadline.
It is coming up in 42 hectares on the banks of the Tigris River. Workers from Philippines and Bangladesh are also on the job.
Around 40,000 workers from Jagtyal and Sircilla in Karimnagar, Armoor in Nizamabad and Nirmal in Adilabad are employed by American and Iraqi forces in Iraq, it is estimated.
Majority of them are illegal migrants and entered Iraq through other Gulf countries without proper visas. They are mainly engaged to work in military bunkers, to supply food to soldiers and to do other menial jobs.
About a 100 of them have been drafted to work on the embassy, which is being built by spending $ 592 million.
The State government's NRI cell does not have any record of AP workers in Iraq since 90 per cent of those employed there are illegal. They are mainly picked up from Kuwait and UAE.
Poor and unskilled workers from backward districts of Telangana visit the Gulf countries on a visit or tourist visa. Local recruiting agents are handing them over to US military officials for employment.
The Union government has imposed restrictions on unskilled workers leaving for Iraq and this is the reason for their taking a roundabout route.
"We are always facing risk of attacks from insurgents but the money is good," said Tirupati Reddy of Laxmipur village in Jagtyal mandal. "We can never earn so much at home."
Also, with UAE, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries tightening their immigration rules, unskilled labourers from backward Telangana districts now prefer strife-torn Iraq for jobs.
Since they are shipped to the bunkers by US military aircraft, the visa and immigration rules are relaxed. The workers are free to stay as long as they wish. The return is also as smooth as their entry.
"But life is hard in the bunker and that is why I returned," said K. Mahesh of Kondagutta village in Karimnagar. "Many from my village are still working there."
Illegal migrants from the State get about Rs 5,000 a month in UAE and other Gulf countries, but those employed in Iraq are paid between Rs 20,000 and Rs 40,000.
Ramana Reddy from Malial mandal in Karimnagar returned after working at the US embassy site for some time.
"It is hard work since they are constructing a 21-building complex," he said. "Also, we never know what will happen the next moment in Baghdad. But we risk everything for the big pay."
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