August 02, 2008	Saturday	Rajab 29, 1429

DHAKA: Nearly 170 Bangladesh workers returned home from Kuwait on Friday, complaining they had been beaten and expelled after taking part in a rare labour protest in the Gulf state.

Over the past few days more than 1,000 Bangladeshis have been deported from Kuwait, officials at Dhaka airport told reporters, with hundreds more facing a similar fate.

Another batch of nearly 250 Bangladeshis flew back to Dhaka from Saudi Arabia on Friday saying they also had been summarily expelled. Hundreds of Asian foreign workers in Kuwait staged demonstrations and went on strike last week to demand better pay and working conditions. The protests turned violent when some workers overturned cars and ransacked offices, but ended on Monday after the government said it would look into their grievances.

The strike in the major oil exporting Gulf Arab state came against a backdrop of soaring inflation and high prices, with workers complaining they couldn’t survive on their salaries once labour agents took their cut or unscrupulous employers deducted housing, medical and meal costs. Some Bangladeshis returning on Friday said they had been beaten and kept in appalling conditions after being accused of taking part in the protests.—Reuters