Legal action is being sought against around 200 Bangladeshi "pimps" operating in the heart of Manama, said a top official.

Manama councillor Ghazy Al Dossary told the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication, that the councillors  have approached the Interior Ministry and will contact the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) to run a joint crackdown.

Councillors claim the men approach cars with GCC number plates and offer to take people to restaurants that have "extra entertainment" or to hotels and furnished apartments to have sex with prostitutes.

The Manama Municipal Council has received complaints from owners of well-known restaurants, hotels and apartment buildings in Hoora and Gudaibiya, demanding an end to the ongoing problem.

The businessmen told councillors that the pimps drive away customers who believe both areas are full of prostitution rings.

Disgrace

"Those Bangladeshi men are a disgrace to their own people, who we have every respect and appreciation for," he said.

"Their acts give Bahrain a bad image among the GCC and with today's technologies - the world. They approach GCC nationals' vehicles, which mostly have tinted windows, to tell them about restaurants with entertainment and hotels or furnished apartments to fulfil their desires without noticing that there are women in the vehicles.

"They also approach passers-by to present them with offers of sexy women."

Al Dossary said Gulf families have stopped visiting "clean and legitimate" businesses in the area because of the problem. "We have received complaints from well-known restaurants, hotels and furnished apartments demanding we take a stand," he said.

Shame

"A lot of GCC nationals have stopped coming here and some families are refusing to let their sons come here because of what they hear and read about Bahrain on social media."

He also blamed police forces for allowing prostitutes to walk the streets without taking action against them.

"We have informed the police about them several times, but they say the issue is complicated because they have to be caught 'red-handed' having sex in return for money before it constitutes as a crime," he explained.

"What's ironic is that those females or shemales walk in front of police stations in groups as police watch on." – TradeArabia News Service