Foreign embassies in Bahrain are bracing themselves for an anticipated rush of illegal residents seeking to take advantage of a six-month immigration amnesty that starts today (July 1).

Between now and December 31 anyone who is in Bahrain illegally can either return to their own country or legalise their stay, without facing any punishment, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

There are an estimated 61,000 illegal residents in Bahrain and more than half of them are believed to be from Bangladesh.

Bangladesh Ambassador and retired Major General K M Mominur Rahman told the GDN in November that there were around 115,000 Bangladeshis in Bahrain, 36,572 of whom were living here illegally.

There are believed to be another 5,000 from India, up to 6,000 from Pakistan and 500 from Nepal, while estimates were not available for illegal residents from Indonesia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka.   

Most illegal residents in Bahrain came here from Asia and either ran away from their employer or overstayed their visa.

The GDN reported yesterday that leaflets about the amnesty had been translated into various languages to help raise awareness.

There are also plans to visit labour accommodation and companies to inform people about the initiative.

“We are ready to issue emergency certificates for workers who do not have their passports with them and want to leave the country during the amnesty period,” said Indian Embassy First Secretary Ram Singh.

Nepalese Embassy third secretary Om Kumar Bhandari told the GDN that a meeting was being organised on Friday to brief the community about the exit scheme.

“The embassy has contacted community leaders to organise this meeting, during which we will encourage Nepalese workers to benefit from the general amnesty,” he said.

He added that most Nepalese illegal residents were believed to be working off the books as housemaids.

“We do not want a single illegal Nepalese worker in Bahrain,” said Bhandari.

Pakistan Embassy community welfare attaché Maqsood Shah said staff had been assigned specially to assist those who want to return home.

“There will be a dedicated desk at our embassy where our staff will fill in forms for the workers in case they want to legalise their stay, which will be submitted to immigration authorities,” he said.

Shah added that a main challenge would be reaching out to those who might have no idea about the initiative.

“There are so many labour camps in Manama that are hideouts for these workers and we intend to visit them soon,” he said.

Bangladesh Embassy labour counsellor Mohidul Islam told the Dhaka Tribune that four dedicated counters had been opened to process paperwork of those taking advantage of the amnesty.

Awareness

He added that awareness campaigns would also take place in mosques.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has issued a statement urging illegal residents in Bahrain to contact the embassy to leave the country.

“Qualified Filipinos wishing to benefit from the  amnesty programme are advised to be ready with copies of their passports and Central Population Register (CPR) cards, which are necessary for purposes of immigration status check,” said the DFA advisory.

Under the amnesty any illegal resident who leaves voluntarily will be able to return to Bahrain once they had secured legitimate employment.

In addition, those who find a new employer willing to supply them with a visa during the amnesty period will be able to legalise their stay.

However, those who have court cases against them – including a travel ban for outstanding debts – are not covered by the amnesty.

Bahrain last held an amnesty for illegal residents in 2010, when around 6,000 people left the country. - TradeArabia News Service