In two Gulf countries, half of Indian prisoners including those on death row are Malayalis; prisoners include women too

KANNUR: 483 Indians are there in the jails of Kuwait and Oman for various offenses. Half of them are Malayalis. This is the information received by RTI activist Raju Vazhakkala from the Indian embassies. There are more Indians in Kuwaiti jails. 428 prisoners including ten women. Five of them are sentenced to death. There are 55 prisoners in the Oman jail, including five women.

Most of the people in prisons are those who arrived on unskilled labor visas. There are those involved in drug dealing, financial irregularities, violence, and murder. As state-wise figures are not available, exact information on the number of Malayalis is not available. In December 2022, Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan informed the Lok Sabha that 8,441 people are incarcerated in foreign jails, including ones going through trial proceedings. It was also stated that 4,389 people are from Gulf countries like Saudi, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman. The embassy says that necessary intervention is being done for the release of the Indians.

There are ways to bring them back to India

According to the Transfer of Sentenced Person (TSP) agreement made with the UAE in 2011, prisoners in UAE jails can be transferred on the condition that they serve the rest of their sentences in India. But it can only be implemented depending on the interest of the convict, the consent of the transferring and receiving country, etc.

If the External Affairs Department makes an effective intervention, it will be possible to bring back the Malayalis who are in jail in the Gulf countries.

Raju Vazhakkala,

RTI Activist