Tears and bitterness in a time of shattered hopes

BILLAL and Salma Aktar exchange money amidst tears and hugs just moments before Billal is forced onto a bus to go to the airport.

The couple have been married only 20 months and, like more than 400 other Bangladeshis, came to Namibia in search of a better life. Yesterday more than 60 men – the first group of Bangladeshis to be employed at the Ramatex Textile Factory, more than a year ago – left the country two months since the day they were fired on the spot.But Salma has to stay behind.She has barely enough to hold body and soul together.Now she must live in hope that money can be raised to send her home to be reunited with her husband.She followed him to Namibia over a year ago and has been cooking for more than 30 of the men who have been living at the Farida Hillcrest Hotel in Windhoek.In a settlement – amounting to around N$1,4 million – the factory agreed to pay the 66 men nine months’ salary each, their flight tickets home, accommodation and a portion of their legal costs.The factory has alleged that, as with the 372 Bangladeshis who were deported two weeks ago, they could not do the job for which they were employed.As the men are given their passports and counted before boarding the bus, the Ramatex management realises that they are not all present.They are told that one of the original group of 66 is refusing to leave.He has married a Namibian woman and is not prepared to go, even though a ticket has been bought for him.”We taught Ramatex a good lesson.Now they know what human rights are,” says Maklasur Rahman who The Namibian met a day before the 66 took Ramatex to court to fight their alleged unfair dismissal in early August.Although their legal battle did not give them the opportunity to prove that they were skilled to do the work for which they were employed, they are impressed by Namibia’s legal system.Their’s, they say, doesn’t come close.Nevertheless, Rahman says, the first thing he will do when he arrives home is to take legal action against the agent who recruited them to Namibia.The group leader Zakir Hossain says he is not sure what he will do.For now he is just happy at the prospect of seeing his wife again.Before getting on the bus, he asks for a photograph to be taken of him with their legal representative, Bradley Basson of Olivier’s Law Office.He wants to show people back home that some Namibians were good to them.Basson says while it is sad that the men are returning to a life of abject poverty, he is pleased that they managed to get some compensation for the premature termination of their contract.The matter has attracted not only local attention since The Namibian first broke the story, but has reverberated abroad.Basson says his office continues to be inundated with calls from international humanitarian organisations offering assistance for the group’s legal battle.”How can Ramatex be exporting products if these men were not skilled?,” asks Imam Ali of the Namibia Islamic Centre who is also there to see the men off.”This is not human action,” he says of the way the men have been treated.The Bangladeshis claim they were victimised by Ramatex because they are largely all Muslim, a charge Ramatex has subsequently denied.As the men prepare to leave for the airport at around midday, it emerges that Salma is not the only Bangladeshi who is staying behind.Encouraged by former Ramatex employees – before the trouble began – nine men came to Namibia five months ago also in search of employment.Jobless and without money, they too are stranded.They allege that at least six of the men who left yesterday conned them by exchanging the return leg of their tickets for cash, from which they did not receive all the money.The Namibia Muslim Islamic Centre is raising funds to buy them tickets.At least N$35 000 is still needed.Yesterday more than 60 men – the first group of Bangladeshis to be employed at the Ramatex Textile Factory, more than a year ago – left the country two months since the day they were fired on the spot.But Salma has to stay behind.She has barely enough to hold body and soul together.Now she must live in hope that money can be raised to send her home to be reunited with her husband.She followed him to Namibia over a year ago and has been cooking for more than 30 of the men who have been living at the Farida Hillcrest Hotel in Windhoek.In a settlement – amounting to around N$1,4 million – the factory agreed to pay the 66 men nine months’ salary each, their flight tickets home, accommodation and a portion of their legal costs.The factory has alleged that, as with the 372 Bangladeshis who were deported two weeks ago, they could not do the job for which they were employed.As the men are given their passports and counted before boarding the bus, the Ramatex management realises that they are not all present.They are told that one of the original group of 66 is refusing to leave.He has married a Namibian woman and is not prepared to go, even though a ticket has been bought for him.”We taught Ramatex a good lesson.Now they know what human rights are,” says Maklasur Rahman who The Namibian met a day before the 66 took Ramatex to court to fight their alleged unfair dismissal in early August.Although their legal battle did not give them the opportunity to prove that they were skilled to do the work for which they were employed, they are impressed by Namibia’s legal system.Their’s, they say, doesn’t come close.Nevertheless, Rahman says, the first thing he will do when he arrives home is to take legal action against the agent who recruited them to Namibia.The group leader Zakir Hossain says he is not sure what he will do.For now he is just happy at the prospect of seeing his wife again.Before getting on the bus, he asks for a photograph to be taken of him with their legal representative, Bradley Basson of Olivier’s Law Office.He wants to show people back home that some Namibians were good to them.Basson says while it is sad that the men are returning to a life of abject poverty, he is pleased that they managed to get some compensation for the premature termination of their contract.The matter has attracted not only local attention since The Namibian first broke the story, but has reverberated abroad.Basson says his office continues to be inundated with calls from international humanitarian organisations offering assistance for the group’s legal battle.”How can Ramatex be exporting products if these men were not skilled?,” asks Imam Ali of the Namibia Islamic Centre who is also there to see the men off.”This is not human action,” he says of the way the men have been treated.The Bangladeshis claim they were victimised by Ramatex because they are largely all Muslim, a charge Ramatex has subsequently denied.As the men prepare to leave for the airport at around midday, it emerges that Salma is not the only Bangladeshi who is staying behind.Encouraged by former Ramatex employees – before the trouble began – nine men came to Namibia five months ago also in search of employment.Jobless and without money, they too are stranded.They allege that at least six of the men who left yesterday conned them by exchanging the return leg of their tickets for cash, from which they did not receive all the money.The Namibia Muslim Islamic Centre is raising funds to buy them tickets.At least N$35 000 is still needed.