POST-EVENT PRESS RELEASE
South Asia & Middle East Forum
Royal Air Force Club, London
Khalid Nadeem was chairman of the 'Bahrain: The Way Forward', a special session of the South Asia & Middle East Forum hosted on 3rd May 2018. Mr Nadeem is the founder of the South Asia & Middle East Forum and has been its chairman since the Forum's inception in 1998. He has training as a lawyer and has experience in both finance and property sectors.
Mr Ausamah Al Absi is the Chief Executive Officer of the Bahrain Labour Market Regulatory Authority ('LMRA') and the Chairperson of the National Committee for Combatting Trafficking in Persons. Mr Al Absi began the session on migrant rights and human trafficking in Bahrain with a concise account of Bahrain's labour market and the corresponding law as and regulations on migrant rights.
Foreign workers in Bahrain consists of around 55% of the total population and 83% of Bahrain's labour market. The first legal regime regulating migrant workers was introduced in 1962. However, the inflexibility of this system has proved inadequate for today's fast-moving economy. Under the original sponsorship system, employers and employees were tied to each other through their contracts, which curbed the legitimate supply of migrant labour as demand continued to soar. This major restriction nurtured a lucrative black market of illegal labour creating a hotbed of human rights infringements, including forced labour and inadequate working conditions.
Mr Al Absi embarked on a project of labour market reform in 2004, at a time when the unemployment rate had peaked 17%. Two years of lobbying and raising public awareness resulted in new reforms that enabled foreign workers to move between employment without the consent of their employers. It also provided workers with leave to remain after the expiry of their work permits, allowing them to seek new employment and removing the intimidation of deportation.
In the face of a substantial number of illegal migrant workers, Mr AlAbsi introduced the 'Flexi Permit' programme in July 2017. The renewable two years' residency permit with re-entry visa that allows expatriates with expired or terminated work permits to work and live in Bahrain without the consent of an employer or sponsor.
However, the number of applications in the first eight months was far below expectations, with fewer than 5,000 applicants. The challenge, as Mr AlAbsi concluded, was attributed to the lack of trust and communication channels between the authorities and the migrant worker community over the past few decades.
Mr Al Absi assured the audience that strengthening the ties between government and the migrant community as well as expanding the eligibility of the Flex Permit programme would be the keystone of his agenda in the forthcoming years.
As the Chairman of the Bahrain National Committee for Combating Trafficking in Persons, Mr Al Absi saw human trafficking as a by-product of the moribund sponsorship system and has helped to establish a complete mechanism and procedures to cope with the issues.
In 2015, Mr Al Absi introduced the 'Expat Protection & Services Center' for migrant workers requiring immediate help and protection. Facilities were set up at visible locations with easy access and a police presence. The centres provide emergency numbers in seven languages, shelter with 200 beds for both genders, clinics for medical and psychological services and representatives from human rights organisations.
In response to Mr Nadeem's question of tackling sexual abuse of domestic workers, Mr Al Absi referred the National Referral Mechanism ('NRM'), which provides an immediate response to reports and undertakes follow-up investigations. The NRM also cooperates with religious organisations and embassies to further reach out to migrant communities and potential victims.
In addition, Mr Al Absi explicitly illustrated the cases of an Anglican priest who acts as an intermediary and the Philippine Embassy, which has set up shelters in Bahrain and has established a pre-departure educational programme to their nationals.
In conclusion, Mr Nadeem opined that Bahrain has made significant progress on establishing protection procedures for migrant labour and has become a role model for neighbouring countries such as Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, as well as many East Asian countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Indonesia. All who could learn from the Bahraini experience.
Revd Mr Martin Kettle is a Policy Adviser in the Mission and Public Affairs Division of the Archbishops' Council, Church of England. Mr Kettle has visited Bahrain's immigration detention centre and participated in aid programmes with financial support from the Foreign Office of the United Kingdom.
Mr Kettle spoke of the British experience in combating forced labour and human trafficking. In 2017, the UK's national referral mechanism received 5,145 referrals from around the country, which included2,180 minors that were mainly taken for drug trafficking and cannabis farming from areas across the country. Labour and sexual deportation as well as domestic servitude are still rampant in the UK, and British nationals are the most common sources of the national referral mechanism.
Under the circumstances, the Church of England has been participating in combating human trafficking and set up initiatives to cope with the issues. Near half of the total 42 dioceses have been working actively to tackle forced labour and human trafficking, which include setting up training courses with guidance to distinguish the disguised places like carwashes and agricultural sites as modern-day slave caches.
To conclude, Mr Kettleprovided a few priority suggestions for both the UK and Bahrain to continually tackle such crimes:
Continuation of the existing initiatives to address the shortcomings of the sponsorship system;
Extended use of the Referralmechanism will further transparency of the issues;
Criminal sanctions to companies that have engaged in human trafficking;
Encouraging independent academic research;
Engagement with civil and religious groups;
Cooperation with other countries.
We would like to close our Bahrain: The Way Forward Post-EventPress Release with a comment from Mr Reydeluz Conferido, the Philippine labourattaché:
At the end of the day, there are many ways to address the problems. We look at these problems not just as ways of legal problems, but as humane issues. People are realising what they are getting are not just workers. Because workers are just something higher than machines. You are getting human beings just like you, with blood and heart and soul, who need the compassion and understanding. I hope we can work more closely with one another. There are problems in the Middle East but we will look at them as opportunities and challenges. We will work together, and the problems are not going to get any better if we start to work together now.
Forum guests included:
Embassy of the Kingdom of Bahrain
Sh. Ali Bin Mohamed Al-Khalifa, Head of Coordination and Follow up;
Mrs Maryam Adel Almannaei, 1st Secretary;
Mr Fahad Albinali, 1st Secretary;
Mr Hasan Moosa Shafaei, Human Rights Advisor.
Embassy of the Republic of the Philippines
Mr Voltaire Mauricio, 1st Secretary & Consul (Consular);
Mr Reydeluz Conferido, labour attaché.
HRH Princess Katarina, The Princess of Yugoslavia and Serbia
Lord Duncan James McNair, 3rd Baron McNair
Max Hill QC, barrister, Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation
Cardinal John Dunckley
Patti Boulaye, singer, actress and artist
Representatives from Ministry of Defence, Foreign & Commonwealth
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