Migrant site workers claim 30-year-old Indian was not sent home by employer despite ailing health

More than 600 migrant construction workers went on strike in Bahrain this week over the death of a colleague who was stranded in the country after losing his job.

The worker, 30-year-old Indian Bala Krishna, died of illness on Monday. It is understood his contract with employer Habib Ali Awachi & Sons Contracting was terminated seven months ago. The workers alleged that Krishna not sent home despite his ailing health because of financial constraints. "We had been telling our supervisors he was sick and needed to be sent home but our pleas fell on deaf ears," one worker told Gulf Daily News. He added that hundreds of other workers had either completed their contracts or had been terminated but continued to stay on in Bahrain, allegedly because the company did not have the means to send them home.

The striking workers resumed work today after starting the flash strike on Tuesday.

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