Aus: Indian asked to work 365 days/yr, without pay!

An Indian man who was brought to Australia to work in a restaurant was told he would have to work every single day and would not get any salary for one year, a Sydney court has heard.

Anbalagan Rajendran, 24, arrived on June 1, 2006, and was met at the airport by Yogalingam Rasalingam, who had paid for his flights and arranged his visa.

Giving evidence against his former boss in the district court in Sydney on Wednesday, Anbalagan said on the first day they met in India, Rasalingam had warned him life in Australia was tough.

"He said, 'Australia is machine-life; one has to work all 365 days'," Anbalagan said, according to Sydney Morning Herald newspaper.

He said Rasalingam told him that he would have to work off a debt of 500,000 rupees (14,160 Australian dollars) for travel and other expenses, and would earn no money for the first year.

For the remaining three years his salary would be paid directly to his father when Rasalingam returned to India on business, Anbalagan said.

Rasalingam, 44, has pleaded not guilty to bringing Anbalagan into Australia with recklessness to his potential exploitation. He has also denied dishonestly influencing a federal official.

Officials said Rasalingam had told the Immigration Department that Anbalagan, from Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu, would be paid 40,000 Australian dollars a year to work as a cook, 38 hours a week, in his Blue Mountains restaurants.

But Anbalagan said Rasalingam had ordered him to hand over his passport and air ticket immediately after he touched down in Australia. He had been driven straight to the restaurant.

Upon arriving at Rasalingam's family home, Anbalagan said his employer gave him a sheet, blanket and pillow and told him to sleep on the floor in the hallway. His belongings had to be kept in a shed in the backyard, and he was told to shower and wash his clothes there.

Anbalagan said in making preparations to travel to Australia, a middleman in Chennai named Sridhar had arranged his flights. Sridhar also had asked him to sign his name seven times on a blank piece of paper but had never shown him or asked him to sign any documents relating to his visa or immigration.