Sinha: Cautious

Chennai/New Delhi, May 3: Foreign minister Yashwant Sinha today said India had banned all recruitments for deployment in Iraq last month, adding that the labour ministry has been asked to probe recent cases of former servicemen being “smuggled” into that country.

Sinha said the “protector of immigrants” in Iraq had imposed an entry ban into the country from April 15 after the security situation deteriorated and India’s policy would thus be marked by “greater caution”. He said the ban on heading to Iraq would continue until the situation improves.

The minister was speaking at the BJP office in Chennai last night after breezing through an election campaign at the Chidambaram Lok Sabha constituency where his party is contesting as part of the ADMK-led alliance.

Sinha said he had seen reports of hundreds of ex-servicemen being sent to Kuwait and Jordan and “smuggled” into neighbouring Iraq without obtaining proper permit papers; 1,500 have reportedly thus entered the country.

The former servicemen are being used to guard key installations like oil wells, refineries, supply depots and shore-based facilities for US and British forces.

The foreign minister said he had asked the labour ministry to investigate which agency had “fraudulently” recruited ex-servicemen in this manner and said “appropriate action” would be taken against those who had “fraudulently” sent them there.

Private security agencies have been roping in retired commissioned and non-commissioned officers, offering them good incentives and salaries. However, the first set of casualties among them and reports that some ex-servicemen have received a raw deal has triggered a controversy.

“Our policy on Iraq will continue to be one of caution,” Sinha said.