Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi has called upon Indian envoys in the Gulf countries to check the misuse of visitor visas.
“The agents fleece the workers, issuing them these visas and once the visa expires, they become more or less like indentured labourers. They are taken to the interiors of most Arab countries to work under unfavourable conditions. Therefore, there should be a check on the misuse of visit visas to prevent this misfortune,'' Mr. Ravi said at a conference of Indian heads of missions posted in six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.
They have been joined by their counterparts in Jordan, Libya, Yemen, Malaysia and Maldives.
The Minister said the sponsor-arranged visas for workers was being done through unauthorised agents and the GCC countries — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates — were planning to abolish them.
Mr. Ravi also announced plans to extend the Indian Community Welfare Fund to all Indian missions as it had been found to be very useful by the missions in mitigating the suffering of Indians. The fund was originally for Emigration Check Required (ECR) countries and was then extended to 48 countries.
The Minister also wanted missions to ensure lawyers were provided for Indian prisoners imprisoned overseas. “We should give them legal help and employ lawyers, there are prisoners continuing to be in jail despite completing the term. We should use the money from the welfare fund. Nobody should suffer from lack of money,'' he said.
Important initiative
The Minister described the conference as an important initiative to discuss issues and problems relating to the overseas Indian community, especially the over 50-lakh expatriate workers.
The conference is also being attended by representatives from the major labour-sending States such as Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
