CompaniesBIO

Abdulla thought it was the opportunity of a lifetime. After struggling to find work in his home country of Bangladesh, he said a recruiter offered him a chance to work in a restaurant thousands of miles away in Kuwait City for the equivalent of $660 a month. There was a catch: He would have to pay a hefty fee — about $10,250 — but he figured it was worth it. He says his mother got loans to cover the fee and he flew to Kuwait in January 2016. He was 21. Abdulla said he arrived to broken promises. He would not be working in a restaurant. Instead, he says, the company that hired him, Tamimi Global Co., sent him to wash dishes at Camp Buehring, a U.S. Army base in Kuwait. He said his salary was about $260, less than half of what was promised, and he worked 12 hours a day with no days off for almost three years. Abdulla, whose real name is being withheld because he fears retaliation, signed a contract and handed over his passport. He was among about 400 workers, he said, who did the same. “...