Missions in Gulf asked to crackdown on unscrupulous agents

In the backdrop of rise in number of cases of fraud committed by unscrupulous recruiting agents, Government today directed all its missions in Gulf countries to crackdown on them as they often dupe people seeking to go abroad for jobs.

In the backdrop of rise in number of cases of fraud committed by unscrupulous recruiting agents, Government on Wednesday directed all its missions in Gulf countries to crackdown on them as they often dupe people seeking to go abroad for jobs.

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The message to crackdown on unscrupulous recruiting agents was conveyed to the heads of missions of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Libya, Yemen, Malaysia and Maldives during a two-day annual conference, which concluded in New Delhi on Wednesday.

"All the Heads of Missions in Gulf countries have been told to come down hard on unscrupulous immigration agents. We will not allow them dupe poor people," Secretary in the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs K Mohandas told PTI.

The top official said the government has also decided to link the Ministry and all the missions in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries with a common computer network to make emigration process simple.

"We have also decided to take utmost care to regulate illegal immigration. We are trying to make the emigration a simple, transparent and hassle-free process," Mohandas said.

The Ministry has also asked the Mission Heads to check employers' accreditation and other details before allowing anyone to take up jobs.

Asked why only Missions in Gulf countries have been asked to tighten noose around the unscrupulous agents, he said the region has been the preferred destination of most of the poor and lower middle class workers, prone to exploitation.