A GROUP of Indian nurses living in Bahrain has accused the owner of a training institute of cheating them with promises of a job in Germany.
The men and women have filed a complaint at the Exhibition Road Police Station, alleging that the Indian man had taken thousands of dinars to facilitate their migration to Berlin almost six months ago.
Despite submitting all documents and qualifying for the emigration after having paid amounts ranging from BD1,725 to BD3,000, they haven’t been given the go-ahead yet, they alleged.
The nurses also claimed that despite repeated pleas, the owner had refused to hand over licences issued by the German nursing council, which gives them the eligibility to seek work in the European nation.
The group told the GDN that they were initially asked to pay 450,000 rupees (about BD2,200) for emigrating to Germany.
“We paid half of it and later he collected BD700 towards electricity and water bills for six months from each one of us,” said 24-year-old Indian nurse Rita George, who is one of the complainants.
“He again asked for BD200 days before the B1 (preliminary) examination, which we refused as we could not afford to pay the amount.
“The receipt for the payments was issued in the name of a company, which we believe, is not registered in Bahrain.
“He also informed us about changes in qualifying exams, and when we questioned him about it, he threatened us saying that he would cancel our visa process.”
Yet another complainant, Abhilash K S, said they did not want to continue with the institution and demanded the money back.
“It has been six months since he promised to arrange the migration to Germany,” the 36-year-old claimed. “We have completed all requirements, each one of us paid more than BD2,000 to gain the eligibility for migration, which includes language training, examination fee, nursing licence and visa processing.”
Annilaj T P, a resident for nine years, also expressed concern over the authenticity of a document which, the owner claims, has been issued by the German nursing council in each of their names.
“The institute is not willing to hand over the document to us, we paid for it,” the 36-year-old said.
“We are worried as the receipt for payments has been issued in the name of another company.”
However, the Indian owner of the institute dismissed their claims and added that they had failed in their language exams, which has delayed their trip to Germany.
“These 10 people are among 23 students in the batch who have to sit again for the exams. That’s what’s delaying their migration to Germany,” he told the GDN.
“They have filed a case against me, but how can I repay my service charges? The amount I collected is for my consultation, training and processing fee.”
The man, who runs a branch of his institution in Kerala, claimed he had partners in Germany and that the nursing council’s licence will be duly handed over to the candidates.
“These allegations are baseless – our employees are trained and the licence will be handed over to the individuals by our German partner in the coming weeks,” he said.
The complainants had earlier submitted separate letters to the Indian and German embassies and Industry, Commerce and Tourism Minister Zayed Alzayani.
Both the embassies had urged the complainants to approach the local authorities.
“Unfortunately, it is not within our jurisdiction to follow up on the business relationships between applicants and their visa service providers,” a German diplomat told the GDN. “They may contact local law enforcement agencies to file a case.”
A comment is awaited from the Industry, Commerce and Tourism Ministry.
raji@gdn.com.bh
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