Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Working Abroad

This morning I read how 35 Colombian soldiers and police officers have fallen prey to callous gringo fraud and now find themselves trapped in Iraq without work, money or a passage back home!

Having been promised jobs guarding U.S. bases and escorting executives they flew to Baghdad in July after two months of training at the US army's Cavalry School. On arrival the remuneration of $6-7000 they had originally been promised was at first reset to $4000 and later on their employers further downgraded their salaries to $1000 and backed out of their committment to pay for the return leg of their Middle Eastern adventure.

According to one former Colombian army captain taken in by the scam, they are now unable to return home, fearing reprisals from their employers. Though...given that it's Colombians that we're talking about here, the person that should have most to fear from the repercussions is their recruitment consultant back home in Bogotá!

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