Manama, July 3 (BNA) — Expatriate Keralites who lure their own people with false promises of jobs and better salaries and then push them to the verge of penury and beggary will face exemplary punishments if their misdoings are brought before the law, the Chief Minister of Kerala (a South Indian state), Oommen Chandy, told the Bahrain News Agency (BNA).

Chandy was in Bahrain to receive the United Nations Global Award for Public Service. Responding to the large number of illegal migrants from Kerala, who are found in most parts of the Arabian Gulf, the Chief Minister said that this was a result of malpractices indulged in by their own people. “Nobody is an illegal when they leave Kerala and arrive in these countries. They are forced into such a situation, but there are no complaints received for us to take action,” he said.

It is important to receive complaints and follow up on those to ensure that the illegal practice is curbed, he added.

Asked about tourism projects being drawn up by Kerala to woo the Bahraini tourists, the chief minister said, “We are always enhancing and re-invigorating the tourism sector in Kerala. It is for the people of Kerala, who reside in Bahrain, to push the tourism potential of the state among the local population.”

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BNA 0714 GMT 2013/07/03