Expatriate“runaway” workers will be obliged to buy their own tickets back home or have their relatives pay for their repatriation if they die in Bahrain.
The Shura Council unanimously voted in favour of amendments to the 2006 Labour Market Regulatory Law in their weekly session yesterday.
Parliament and Shura Council Affairs Minister Ghanim Al Buainain attempted to have the legislation withdrawn, claiming it would harm Bahrain’s leading international labour status.
He requested that the Foreign Ministry is consulted on the matter before the Shura Council votes on the legislation.
Violations
However, Shura Council member and former parliament first vice-chairman Ali Al Aradi said, as a current representative on three international human rights committees, he saw no violations and said the amendment wouldn’t harm Bahrain’s status in the first tier of the International Labour Organisation.
He added that written consent giving Shura the go-ahead has already been submitted by the National Institution for Human Rights, Migrant Workers Protection Society and Shura’s own human rights committee following a thorough study of international rules.
The amendment was originally proposed by former MPs and approved in May last year, and will be returned to the current MPs for minor changes to wording.
Should MPs approve the amendment, it will be referred to His Majesty King Hamad for ratification.
Shura financial and economic affairs committee chairman Khalid Al Maskati said any employment in Bahrain was governed by contracts which protect the rights of employers and workers, including domestic workers.
“There are regulations that allow expat workers to leave their job legally,” he said.
“So, when an expat disappears and goes to work with another employer illegally why should the original sponsor be forced to pay for repatriation?
“We have to stop punishing employers just because they are the easiest to reach and because a runaway can’t be put in jail for more than 10 days – this move is in the right direction.”
The services committee said it was working on a legislation to establish a new fund in which a minimum non-refundable deposit of BD5 is collected from expat workers whenever they enter the country.
Meanwhile, human rights committee chairman Ahmed Al Haddad said investors and companies in Bahrain were being harmed under the existing rule.
“The Labour Market Regulatory Authority has told us that there are fewer than 2,500 runaways, and that number can be accommodated through mechanisms to implement the new rule,” he said.
Bahrainis pay BD750 to bring an African housemaid and between BD1,500 and BD1,800 from Asia; additionally Bahraini families take loans to get them here.
Trial
“Most of them run away after the three-month trial period; that is why we feel at least BD150 to BD250 should be taken from workers before they enter the country to ensure it covers the cost of a ticket.”
Human rights committee vice-chairman Darwish Al Mannai said the current rule was unfair and illogical.
“If a runaway is caught, the CR of, and government services to, the establishment are frozen until the ticket is paid for – this is unfair.”
Shura member Mona Almoayyed said the legislation should only apply to expat workers who have run away on their own.
