Bonny Mascarenhas

A group of 23 workers who were mistreated by their employer left the Kingdom yesterday aboard a Gulf Air flight. The workers formed part of a larger group of 113 men, most of whom have now returned home.

The labourers were able to leave the Kingdom following their ordeal thanks to tickets provided by the Labour Market Regulatory Authority in accordance with a new policy of providing plane tickets to all mistreated workers who wish to return home. Bahrain Tribune reported last month that the men’s employer had cut off the power to their labour camp and told them to find alternative accommodation.

The workers also claimed at the time that they had not been paid their wages for three months and that their employer had taken their passports.

The men were given the option of either remaining in the Kingdom or returning home, and 98 of them chose to leave.