`No legal assistance':  Over 500 Telangana workers languish in Gulf jails

In a written reply in Lok Sabha, Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan said there are 8,343 Indian prisoners in the jails of 82 countries, and 4,755 of them are in six Arab Gulf countries. “There are 606 Indian prisoners in Malaysian jails, 1,926 in UAE, 1,362 in Saudi Arabia, 682 in Qatar, 428 in Kuwait, 265 in Bahrain, and 92 in Oman,” he said.

Over 500 migrant workers from Telangana are languishing in jails and deportation centers in Gulf countries. They have been jailed for minor cases. Most of them lack knowledge of local laws. Plus they do not have access to proper legal assistance.

Bheem Reddy Mandha, an analyst on Gulf migration affairs, urged the central and state governments to allocate special funds for the welfare of the Gulf migrant workers. He said despite India's prisoner transfer agreements with five Gulf countries, they are not being implemented.

India has signed agreements on transferring persons with 31 countries including UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain. “Due to strong privacy laws prevailing in many countries, they do not share information on prisoners. India has signed extradition treaties with 50 countries and arrangements with 12 countries. India has also acceded/ratified the multilateral Inter-American convention on serving criminal sentences abroad and the council of Europe convention on the transfer of sentenced persons,” the minister said. Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF) has been set up in Indian diplomatic missions abroad to provide financial assistance to Indian prisoners for legal aid and travel documents/air tickets during repatriation.