A large number of Indian workers in Bahrain have sought the support of the Ministry of External Affairs, continuing the trend of difficulties faced by labourers from India in Gulf countries.

The problem came to light when a group of workers employed with a Bahraini private company appealed to the government for help through social media networks. They said at least 500 workers had not received salary for months and were living on food handouts.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday instructed the Indian Embassy in Manama to help them. “Indian embassy in Bahrain is seized of the matter and will help them,” she said after followers on her Twitter page sought her intervention.

Subsequently, the Indian embassy in Bahrain said in a message: “The matter has been taken up with the local Govt. Mission is working for a speedy resolution to the issue.” The news from Bahrain came even as the Telangana government reached out to Ms Swaraj seeking to free twenty-nine Indian workers employed in a company in Saudi Arabia.

Ms Swaraj had instructed the Indian embassy in Riyadh to look after the case which is still unfolding.

The cases from Bahrain and Saudi Arabia are the latest in a series of incidents involving a large number of Indian workers from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Ms. Swaraj had to intervene in July 2016 to help nearly 800 Indian workers who had been starving because of lack of money and resources in Saudi Arabia. The GCC countries account for the largest number of overseas Indian workers and remain a steady source of foreign remittances to the Indian economy.