These low-paid foreign workers face many of the same risks soldiers do. Mortars have killed Filipinos who served meals in mess halls. Assassins have targeted Iraqis translating for soldiers. Roadside bombs have ripped into trucks driven by Turkish Full Story »
Posted by Fabrice Florin - via Publish2 (Politics), ProPublica
War corporations victimizing their foreign employees is shown to be widespread, and a vicious attack upon the wellbeing of poor people across the globe. The history of the current abused system is presented.
To outsource the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States has turned to the cheapest labor possible. About two-thirds of the 200,000 civilians working under federal contracts 2 in the war zones are foreigners. Many come from poor, Third World countries. Others are local hires.
American civilian workers have had trouble enough getting payment 4 for their injuries. AIG, the primary provider of such insurance, has battled them over everything from prosthetic legs to treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, according to court records and interviews. But at least the Americans have a fighting chance
It’s not surprising that neither the government nor the firms have felt much pressure to act. Many of the foreign workers and their families do not speak English. They do not have a senator to argue their case or a corporation to lobby for them. The result is an invisible, disposable army suffering its wounds in silence.
Corrupt denial practices of insurance companies seem pervasive.