RANCHI: Five migrant workers from Hazaribagh and Giridih districts of Jharkhand are stranded in Cameroon after not being paid their wages for the past five months.

In a video message sent to their families, the workers said they have run out of money and are facing serious difficulties in managing accommodation and food.

In the video, the stranded workers described their plight and appealed for their immediate repatriation to India.

Speaking to TNIE, one of the migrants said that despite repeated requests, they have been denied their wages by the company they were working for.

“We have been running from pillar to post to get our hard-earned money. We contacted the company management, they said that the outsource company will pay your wages, and when we asked the outsource company for it, they said that they don’t have the money to pay us, asking us to stop the work,” said Sunil Mahto, one of the migrants stranded in Cameroon.

According to Mahto, after the outsourcing company asked them to stop working on 19 November, they have been sitting idle in a foreign country and struggling for food and accommodation.

Mahto said they reached Cameroon in March–April for livelihood opportunities but have been denied their wages, which he described as “very painful”. They had been working for Kalpataru Project International Limited and were hired by the outsourcing firm, Shubhra Engineering Services and Sales Limited, based in Kerala.