The Hindu Business Line : Nearly 300,000 Indians live in Bahrain

DUBAI: As many as 290,000 Indians live and work in the gulf nation of Bahrain, with around 5,000 arriving every month, the Indian Ambassador to the country has said.

“A few years ago we had around 140,000 people. The increase has been substantial and is a reflection of the faith, capacity and discipline of Indian workers,” said Mr Balkrishna Shetty, the Indian ambassador to Bahrain at an open house for Indians in the gulf country.

Although around 8,000 Indians left Bahrain when the government announced amnesty for illegal expatriate workers, which ended on January 31, another 22,000 regularised their visas and stayed on, he was quoted as saying in Gulf Daily News.

Besides, Mr Shetty said the Embassy will investigate the case of 15 workers of a construction company in Manama, who were allegedly denied salary for 10 months. The workers had said they were paid a meagre BHD 60 to BHD 80 (1 BHD = $2.6) a month and kep t in poor conditions at a labour camp in Isa Town, before being denied any compensation for ten months.

Mr Shetty also pledged to take action against hotels that exploit Indian women by bringing them to the country on artist visas and forcing them into prostitution.

His comments came after several Indians were found among 56 women caught in a raid on a Gudaibiya hotel in May.

“It is human trafficking and the governments of India and Bahrain are serious about stopping this,” he said. - PTI

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