Bonny Mascarenhas

The LMRA’s decision this week to cover plane ticket expenses for mistreated workers who wished to return home is to be extended to all other such cases in the future.

Head of Public Relations at the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) Waheed Al Belushi revealed to Bahrain Tribune yesterday that this same system will be used in future cases where workers have been mistreated by their employers and want to leave the Kingdom.

“After studying the case, if the employer is found to be in the wrong tickets will be provided to the worker by the LMRA. It will be reimbursed by the employer according to the legal procedures,” the official explained.

The Authority announced in an official statement issued on Monday that it had provided a group of 130 workers who had been mistreated by their employer with the choice of either remaining in Bahrain and finding another job, or returning home.

The large majority of the workers opted to leave the Kingdom following their ordeal and the LMRA announced that it would pay for their tickets and then seek reimbursement from the company.

Yesterday, the fingerprints, photographs and digital signatures of the workers were taken by LMRA, and Gulf Air tickets will be provided to them shortly. “Travel arrangements will be made to take them right up to their hometown. The workers’ passports will also be handed over to the Indian Embassy,” Al Belushi explained.

Nirmal Kumar Chawdhury, Second Secretary at the Indian Embassy thanked the Authority for its prompt action and its tackling of the situation. “They have been considerate and humanitarian in their approach to the plight of the workers,” he stated.