Dubai: A report highlighting the problems faced by Indian workers in Bahrain will be submitted to authorities in New Delhi next month.

Speaking at the embassy's monthly open house in Adliya, Indian Ambassador to Bahrain, Balkrishna Shetty, said the embassy was collecting information from their records on problems commonly faced by Indians, which will be presented to the authorities in New Delhi during the visit by Bahrain's Labour Minister Dr Majeed Al Alawi from April 25 to 27.

Dr Al Alawi will be accompanied by three Labour Ministry officials and one from Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) along with five businessmen, Farooq Almoayyed, Jameel Mayrooq, Sameer Nass, Adel Al Ali and Yousif Saher, the Gulf Daily News reported.

Shetty said the days of slavery were over and employees could not be kept in bondage by employers. "We have never seen a sponsor or employer being prosecuted for a violation he has committed and it is always the employee who gets punished," he said and added this setup, which is a violation of international human rights, has to change, according to the report.

Shetty pointed out that Bahrain is equally keen as India to ensure that there is no violation of human rights and justice is served. "Uniformity should be observed in all job contracts with expatriates instead of the employer adding clauses according to his will and wish," Shetty said. He added if there was a court case against an Indian and he wished to leave Bahrain, then he should be allowed to and the embassy should be allowed to contest the case.

He also stressed that the employee's signature should be made mandatory for renewal of a job visa, which would help reduce bondage by employer. "Primarily, they need to be educated never to hand over their passports to the sponsor or employer," he said.

Source : UNI