Bahrain to set up special police force to protect foreign workers

Dubai, Apr 19 (UNI) Bahrain, which is planning to scrap the sponsorship system, is to set up a labour police force to protect Indian and other expatriate workers in the country.

The plan was unveiled after Crown Prince Shaikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa had a meeting with Indian Ambassador Balkrishna Shetty.

Prince Shaikh Salman inquired about the missing Indian worker Ravindra Janair, who vanished after allegedly being locked up by his Bahraini sponsor, on Saturday.

The new labour law, which may also come into effect from next month, would safeguard the interests of the expatriate labour force.

The Indian, who ran away from his workplace three months ago complaining that he was not paid, was arrested by the police on Thursday and was handed back to the sponsor the next day. Since then there had been no trace of him.

''I told the minister that this is not acceptable and that we will hold the sponsor responsible until the Indian worker was found,'' Mr Shetty was quoted by newspapers as saying.

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