Fifty-two laborers who were stranded in Romania last year have won 3.37 million yuan in compensation in a suit against a Beijing job agency, a judge said on Thursday.

The agency, Zhongqi International Trading Co Ltd, has been ordered by Fengtai district court to return the intermediary fee of 50,000 yuan a person, and the compensation fee of about 14,000 yuan a person, to make up for the income lost during the laborers' jobless period.

The company said it would appeal to a higher court.

"On one hand, laborers should have more legal awareness to protect themselves; on the other hand, agencies should do more careful risk assessments before providing services," said Song Kun, the judge in charge of the case.

The workers are from Gucheng county, Hebei province. A countryman, Wang Zhanglian, introduced them to the agency to work in Romania.

The agency charged them 50,000 yuan each, promising working visas ranging from three to five years. But no contract was signed.

However, the visas turned out to be only temporary residence permits, which expired three months after their arrival in March 2008. While they were illegal residents, they survived mainly on vegetables collected from the street.

During the trial, the workers demanded compensation of 5.57 million yuan in total, or 10,000 yuan each.

The agency said the reason the laborers were shipped back was their illegal strike and them laying siege to the embassy.

Some workers were also reported to have carried out unauthorized work.

The court's verdict said that during the laborers' illegal stay in Romania, the agency had sent delegates there and had promised to return the intermediary fees and compensate any losses.

With a population of about 480,000, Gucheng county is one of the largest sources of transnational workers.

Statistics from the county's foreign economic and trade bureau show the county had, since 2004, sent more than 10,000 laborers to more than 10 countries, including Japan, South Korea, Israel, Singapore and Saudi Arabia.