5k workers may face hardships as war hits employment abroad

Bhopal: Over 5000 workers of Madhya Pradesh have been hit in the war like crisis in west Asia and Gulf. The majority of counties facing war are Emigration Check Required countries listed by the govt of India.As per the ministry of external affairs, the Pravasi Bharatiya Bima Yojana (PBBY)- a government-mandated insurance scheme aimed at safeguarding the interests of Indian emigrant workers falling under ECR countries. As per the govt of India ministry of external affairs, at least 5000 emigrant workers of MP were provided Pravasi Bharatiya Bima Yojana in the past four years for going to work in ECR countries.Such workers from MP, be it semi-skilled/unskilled workers are working in Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Kuwait, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia- all ECR countries that are hit due to ongoing war like situation.The number of emigration clearances granted from 2021 to 2025 in ECR counties from MP were a total of 5383 people. It includes 2220 people in Saudi Arabia, 1826 people in Kuwait, 672 people in UAE, 272 people in Qatar, 69 people in Bahrain and 4 people in Lebanon, among other countries. ECR countries are specific nations designated by the ministry of external affairs, India where certain Indian passport holders require emigration clearance for employment purposes. The list primarily includes nations in the Gulf and Southeast Asia, focusing on protecting workers with lower educational qualifications.The ECR countries include Baharain, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Sudan, Sudan, Thailand and UAE. With a purpose to protect semi-skilled/unskilled workers from exploitation by ensuring employers are registered with the eMigrate system and covered under the Pravasi Bharatiya Bima Yojana.