Parliamentary committee calls for tighter visa supervision

Manama : A parliamentary committee yesterday called upon the authorities here to tighten the visa allocation procedures to protect the society from criminal and immoral activities. 

The move follows a proposal, approved by the Foreign Affairs, Defence and National Security Committee in the House of Representatives, asking the government to reconsider granting entry to people from those countries who were found frequently involved in “immoral” activities in the Kingdom. 

The proposal was tabled by Second Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives MP Abdulhaleem Murad in February 2017. 

Explaining the move, he told the Parliament that the proposal would help boost efforts to combat vice and immoral activities in the country.

“The authorities should reassess the entry procedures to protect the Bahraini society,” Murad stressed. 

Citing reports, he pointed out that people from mainly “European and Asian” countries are misusing procedures to secure easy entry into the country “to run prostitution rackets and engage in other illegal activities.   

Bahrain offers entry to nationals of over 100 countries, with less requirements. 

The proposal was reviewed by several authorities, including Interior Ministry, which is in charge of the General Directorate of Nationality, Passports and Residence Affairs.

After reviewing the proposal, the General Directorate told the committee that the “crimes and immoral activities committed by certain nationalities are individual cases and don’t represent the nationalities they’re holding”.  

“This is not a phenomenon that requires the reconsideration of entry for visitors to the Kingdom

“Such a measure, if adopted, would affect the interests of the Kingdom and its diplomatic relations with friendly and brotherly states and the possible application of the principle of reciprocity by these states,” the directorate added.

The committee members, however, passed the proposal, which will be reviewed, along with a report issued by the committee, before the 40-member council on Tuesday.