Alcohol ruins lives of expats

Thousands of expats leave their homeland and reach the Gulf countries in search of greener pastures. But not everyone keeps in mind the purpose of coming here and finally ends up in inviting unwarranted troubles.

According to Prakash Acharya, a social worker and head of a voluntary organisation called Sanskriti, there are many expats in Bahrain who invite trouble for themselves due to their bad habits like excessive consumption of alcohol. When they are young and energetic, they never pay heed to the advice of any person.

They approach social workers only when all the gates are closed for them, said Acharya, who has helped many such people, when they are in trouble.

An Indian national was working for a gold shop in Manama. He was also handling the accounts of the shop. When evening approaches, he would embezzle some money from the shop and enjoy partying at alcohol-serving restaurants, leaving his wife and two kids at home. His merriment at the cost of his employer continued for a few months.

But one fine day his employer came to know about the embezzlement and filed a case against him.His wife and children were sent back immediately. But the employee is stuck in the Kingdom since he is facing travel ban. Now his wife and children are eagerly waiting for his return.

But, he is unable to go since he allegedly owes approximately BD50,000 to his employer, said Acharya. After the incident, his wife really had a harrowing time in bringing up her two kids in her hometown as her husband was neither allowed to work nor permitted to leave Bahrain.

The Indian Embassy as well as the social workers have been trying to sort out the issue as soon as possible. But his employer is demanding BD50,000, which is a huge amount for the family, said Acharya. “Moreover, the employer is angry that he spent all the money for alcohol and other bad habits.

The employer even refused to entertain us, making the process complicated,“ he said. Businessman to no man Acharya said that they solved a similar case last year, where an expat spoilt his career due to addiction to alcohol.

The Indian expat was running a cloth shop in Riffa and his business was doing really well. Due to his addiction to alcohol, he reached such a level that finally he did not have a place to sleep. When his condition worsened, he approached social workers.They took him to the embassy.

When the embassy asked for his passport, he could not produce it as it was not in his possession. “He lied that he had lost his passport in a fire tragedy.

Finally, the embassy officials established his identity after bringing documents related to his nationality, from his birthplace, explained Acharya, adding that there are many such people who suffer because of their own acts.Fear about embassy Acharya said there is a fear among a section of expats that the embassy staff would arrest them if they approach the embassy.

Therefore, the expats stay away from the embassy. “This may be because of misguiding by their colleagues. Actually, the fact is, the embassy is there to help the people of its country. In case of emergency, the expats can knock embassy's door at any time,“ he said. But his ultimate advice to all expats is to stick to their basic purpose of coming here.

Acharya said that members of Sanskriti are ready to help Indian expats, especially who want to take advantage of amnesty. One can contact him @38748885 or Satheesh Unnithan @34337940 or Jaydeep Singh @36022106 in case of crisis, he said.