MORE than 35,000 Indians have left Bahrain through special evacuation flights operated as part of the Vande Bharat Mission.
Furthermore, over 10,000 Indians have returned from India to Bahrain.
This was revealed by the Indian Embassy during a virtual Open House yesterday that was chaired by Ambassador Piyush Srivastava.
The monthly event is held to address urgent or non-routine consular and labour issues of the Indian community in Bahrain.
Mr Srivastava briefed participants about issues being faced by Indian nationals and praised Bahrain government for extending the validity of visit visas until January 21.
Passengers
He also highlighted the embassy’s efforts to increase the weekly cap on passengers travelling from India to Bahrain under the Air Bubble agreement between the two countries.
The GDN had reported that India has set a limit of 650 passengers per week to be flown on these flights as part of Covid-19 protocols, which has led to a high demand for tickets with people waiting to return amid threat of job losses and visa expiry.
The embassy is continuously trying to increase this cap in view of the high demand and growing number of passengers, stated the embassy.
“Passengers can now book their tickets directly through airlines’ websites or through travel agents.”
The community members were also encouraged to make use of the general amnesty for illegal expatriates that ends on December 31.
&uuid=(email))