Bonny Mascarenhas

The Indian Community Relief Fund (ICRF) is preparing to initiate a large-scale awareness drive to inform the Indian community about the Easy Exit scheme, ICRF Chairman John Iype stated yesterday.

Speaking to the Bahrain Tribune, Iype said that they are in the process of printing and distributing flyers in the five languages commonly spoken by Indians in the Kingdom. The flyers will include details of the Easy Exit scheme and how a person can avail of it, along with contact telephone numbers.

ICRF will also make regular announcements on radio channels as part of its awareness campaign. “We are also considering putting in announcements in the print media,” he added.

Indian Ambassador Dr. George Joseph told the Tribune that community associations will also be requested to spread information on the Easy Exit scheme and urge people living on expired visas in the Kingdom to take advantage of the government’s clemency offer.

Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting held earlier in the week with the ambassador, Ali Radhi, CEO of the Labour Market Regulatory Authority, expressed disappointment over the low turnout of people choosing to avail of the scheme and said that the scheme may be cancelled as a result.

The Easy Exit scheme was first initiated in February and amended on May 25 to include a pardon of all accumulated fines for expatriates residing in the Kingdom on expired visas. The amended scheme also included all categories of visas and was open to domestic workers and expats on expired visit visas.

Accumulated fines are pardoned under the new scheme and applicants must simply pay a nominal fee of BD25 if on an expired visit visa and BD15 if on an expired employment visa.