In December 2024, The Hindu reported that sixteen Indian workers working in Libyan Cement Company’s Benghazi plant have been living in “prison-like” conditions after protesting unpaid wages and long working hours.

The workers allege their passports were confiscated upon arrival, and they experienced wage theft and increasingly long working hours, including working beyond midnight. Workers who protested were beaten by the contractor. Since then, the workers allege they have been “cooped up” in two rooms and have not left the factory due to fear of being arrested due to their lack of legal identification documents.

The workers are currently being assisted by an Indian community social worker, who has been asked to assist the workers by the Indian Embassy.

In January, the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre invited Libyan Cement Company to respond to the allegations. It did not respond.