A permanent Sri Lankan diplomatic mission will finally be set up in Bahrain, it was announced yesterday.

 

A feasibility study has been completed giving the project the green light, said sources.

 

“The Sri Lankan Embassy in Kuwait has just finalised a feasibility study for the project,” they told the GDN.

 

However, the sources said no location for the building had yet been earmarked.

 

“The project is underway and we will see a diplomatic mission established in Bahrain very soon,” they added.

 

Migrant Workers Protection Society (MWPS) officials have long campaigned for an embassy to be set up in Bahrain, saying there were not enough people to cope with the number of cases.

 

More than 13,000 Sri Lankans are estimated to live in Bahrain, 3,000 of whom are domestic workers.

 

The Sri Lanka Club in Manama is used as a venue for consular services and officials from the closest Sri Lankan Embassy in Kuwait regularly visit to hold open days.

 

Action committee head Noora Feleyfel welcomed the move, saying a diplomatic mission in Bahrain was crucial.

 

“We do need one in Bahrain to address Sri Lankan nationals’ problems,” she said.

 

“It will be a great help for us if a diplomatic body is established here.”

 

Ms Feleyfel said that most of the women in the MWPS’s shelter were Sri Lankan because they did not have an embassy in Bahrain to represent them.

 

“We hope work is done as soon as possible to ensure the diplomatic mission is established,” she added.

 

The GDN reported in September that negotiations between Bahrain and Sri Lanka, which have been going on since 2006, were in the final stages. – (Gulf Daily News)