EFFORTS to link Bahrain’s largest expat database with India’s records of its nationals overseas need to be stepped up, according to a former diplomat.
Dr Mohan Kumar, who was India’s Ambassador to Bahrain from 2010 to 2015, said that linking the eMigrate system with the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) would h¡elp identify shortcomings and resolve problems.
Dr Mohan Kumar
The eMigrate system has passport, visa, employment and travel insurance details of Indians leaving the country, helping the Indian government keep track of its nationals working abroad.
“When I arrived in Bahrain in 2010, I wanted to know the number of Indians who arrive in the country annually seeking employment, but there were no figures back then,” Dr Kumar told the GDN yesterday.
“However, India has since embarked on the eMigrate system; if a person was departing from Kerala or New Delhi, there is a clear idea about his employment, contract and visa.”
He was speaking on the sidelines of a webinar organised by the Bahrain Centre for Strategic, International and Energy Studies (Derasat) and the Indian think-tank, Observer Research Foundation, yesterday.
During the third India-Bahrain High Joint Commission meeting in New Delhi in April, the Indian authorities had urged Bahrain officials to strengthen co-ordination on consular issues and proposed bilateral consultations regarding the integration of eMigrate with the LMRA portal.
Bahrain is home to almost 500,000 Indians.
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