Brave Odia migrant girl helps rescue of 6,000 labourers in Kerala

BHUBANESWAR: In a rare display of courage and presence of mind, a 19-year-old tribal girl from Odisha’s Balangir district helped free more than 6,700 labourers trapped in different brick kilns of Tamil Nadu during the Covid-19 pandemic. The girl Manasi Khamari raised an alarm by sending SOS messages when their employer attacked around 350 labourers from Odisha working in his brick kiln. Following which the Kerala government intervened and rescued more than 6750 migrant workers from Odisha, Bihar and Jharkhand and arranged for their return to their home states.
The National Commission for Women (NCW) shared this unique story of overcoming ordeal through sheer willpower and grit of a young girl on the eve of World day against Human Trafficking to be celebrated on Thursday.
Manasi along with 355 other labourers hailing from Odisha’s Balangir , Nuapada and Kalahandi districts were working at the GDM brick kiln in Pudhukuppam in Tiruvallur. The owner had sourced the labourers through a labour agent using cash advances as bait.
The labourers had already been working at the kiln for six months without any facilities on wages as low as Rs 250 a week when the governments announced shutdown due to the outbreak of Covid.
The employer agreed to allow the labourers to go if they complete the targeted number of bricks within a week. All the labourers put in their best and worked for over 14 hours a day to complete the targeted number of bricks.
“My family including my father and younger sister had taken an advance of Rs 28,000 in order to pay off their debts incurred for medical expenses of my mother, who died. All of us toiled day and night to complete the bricks so that we could leave for home. Our relatives were pressurising us to return and we were scared of the disease as well,” recalled Manasi.
However, when the labourers, after completion of their work, approached the owner, he refused to let them go and forced them to continue making bricks. When the workers protested, the owner and his men thrashed the workers including women and children mercilessly.
“They lost their cool when they saw some of the workers packing their luggage to return home. The men pulled out lathis and went berserk with their brutal attack. The workers were bleeding profusely. Some were left grievously injured in the incident and needed urgent medical attention. They broke the rib bone of one of the workers while many received a head injury,” Manasi said.
The girl mustered all her courage and secretly slipped into a safe space and made frantic calls for help. “I called up almost all the numbers on my mobile and shared the photos, audios and videos of the injured men to all WhatsApp contacts appealing for urgent help. I knew that the owner will not take us to the hospital and some might die of profuse bleeding,” Manasi shared.
The gruesome images of labourers bleeding profusely sent by Manasi surfaced on social media and an acquaintance approached a voluntary organization for help which quickly contacted the Tiruvallur district administration and legal authorities to rescue the labourers.
The injured labourers were injured and taken to a hospital. The Kerala government enquired about other brick kilns in the area and learnt about migrant workers trapped in difficult conditions. Subsequently, workers in as many as 30 brick kilns in Tiruvallur were rescued and allotted special trains for their travel so they can return home comfortably.
The government arranged for about 150 buses ferried 6750 labourers, including the 355 labourers (from the kiln in which Manasi was working) to the railway station to board trains to their homes in Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh between May 19 and 20. Police officials travelled along with them to ensure safety throughout the journey.
Police sources revealed that the owner identified as Munuswamy of GDM brick kiln was a habitual offender found guilty for the third time. The same brick kiln had been raided in 2015 rescuing 333 labourers following a second rescue in 2016, freeing 328 labourers. Both times, FIRs were filed against the owner, but he absconded.
“Unorganised and migrant workers are the most vulnerable to trafficking which has clearly taken the shape of an organised crime now. With Covid-19 and the uncertainty surrounding it, it is likely that many labourers will be forced into debt for their survival triggering conditions of bondage and even wage-less labour. The government and the civil society to come together to address this vulnerability and to ensure that the poor claim their entitlements and benefits,” said Neenu Thomas, director (Odisha Projects), International Justice Mission that works on Human Trafficking.
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