Faded dreams for Mozambican labors in East Germany FEATURE 09/21/2010

Faded dreams for Mozambican labors in East Germany

FEATURE

09/21/2010
MAPUTO — A handful of tattered photos are all that remain of Mozambican Anacleto Amade’s two years in East Germany, where he worked in the 1980s under a labor scheme between the then-communist allies.

But his memories of friendships abroad and walking in the snow are scant comfort now. Like most of the 15,000 Mozambicans sent to work in East German factories, Amade said he has never been paid his full wages.

“When I see those pictures, the emotion is enormous, it is big. It is the size of the world. Because no one’s story is the same,” the 41-year-old said.

While in East Germany, the Mozambicans were paid only 40 percent of their salaries, they say. They were told the rest was sent to Mozambique for investment and pay-out upon their return.

But after the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, the labour pact ended and they were sent home to a nation that was still a Cold War proxy battlefield. They received only about $350 (270 euro) each.

The Mozambicans in East Germany worked in steel, construction, manufacturing and textiles industries from 1979.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100921com7.html