Expats seek to regularize status
On 1-23 August, the Labor Ministry received requests to regularize the stay of some 4,177 foreign workers. Of this number, 3,068 had their work permits renewed while 982 applications for local transfer were approved. The ministry rejected 127 applications.
Complaints have been filed against unscrupulous Bahraini sponsors who are trying to hamper the general amnesty either by filing false cases against their expatriate workers or by extorting huge amounts of money in exchange for returning their workers' passports. Other rogue sponsors have also taken to renewing their workers' visas against the latter's wishes in order to prevent them from seeking sponsorship transfer under the amnesty. The Labor Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) said a special committee would be set up to look into this matter. Meanwhile, immigration officials said they would honor the emergency certificates or outpasses issued by embassies for amnesty seekers whose passports are being held by their sponsors.
According to Marietta Dias of the Migrant Workers Protection Society (MWPS), many irregular migrant workers were put off by the new policy issued by the LMRA earlier this month requiring amnesty applicants to be fingerprinted. They allegedly fear that the motive behind this move is to blacklist them and prevent them from returning to Bahrain in the future. However, the LMRA clarified that the initiative to fingerprint amnesty applicants was merely meant to increase the flow of information between government agencies.
Information campaigns re the amnesty program
The LMRA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Voice FM 104.2 radio station for the conduct of a comprehensive public awareness campaign about the ongoing general amnesty. Under the MoU, the radio station will broadcast the rules and procedures for the amnesty and urge irregular migrants to avail of it. As a special attraction, some 104 free Qatar Airways ticket would be distributed starting 1 September to amnesty seekers from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka who qualify based on a competition to be conducted over the radio.
In another strategy, embassy officials will make the rounds of hospitals in Bahrain to inform patients with irregular immigration status about the ongoing general amnesty. Officials at the Salmaniya Medical Complex said there are many patients at the hospital who are unaware of the program. They promised to cooperate with authorities in helping these patients benefit from the amnesty.
LMRA chief executive Ali Radhi explained that although all overstayers can apply for the general amnesty, those with pending legal cases have to wait for the court decision on these cases before they can be return home. This answers the complaints of several runaway workers that they were unable to avail of the amnesty because of cases filed against them by their sponsors. Among them were 12 Filipina amnesty seekers who were allegedly stopped at the final immigration check at the airport and prevented from leaving Bahrain in separate incidents this month. They were informed that their sponsors had filed last-minute objections to their departure. The women, largely runaway domestic workers sheltered at the Philippine Embassy, have appealed to Bahraini authorities to dismiss their employers' last-minute objections as mere harassment.
Philippine Embassy officials have expressed concern that in the first month of amnesty period only five wards at the shelter for distressed Filipino workers have so far been allowed to return home while 12 others had been denied exit despite having their papers stamped with approval from the General Directorate of Passports, Nationalities and Residences. Shelter officials are worried that at the current pace, many distressed workers might not be able to return home before the amnesty period expires in December. About half of the 80 wards at the shelter are set to apply for amnesty.
According to the Indonesian Embassy, as of mid-August, only seven Indonesian amnesty seekers, including two overstayers and five runaway domestic workers, have returned home. Likewise, thousands of Thai irregular migrants have not signed up for the amnesty program for fear of being prosecuted or blacklisted. It is also possible that workers intend to return in time for the December holidays. Officials at the Pakistani and Bangladeshi embassies likewise lamented the low turnout of amnesty seekers. The Pakistani Embassy has processed only 250 while the Bangladeshi Embassy received some 540 applications nearly a month into the amnesty period. The only exception is the Indian Embassy, which is processing amnesty applications in the thousands. One case the Indian Embassy is working on involves an overstaying Indian on an artist visa. They are negotiating with Bahraini officials to allow the penniless Indian expatriate to return home without paying the fines.
More cases of undocumented Filipino children emerged during the Philippine Embassy Open House on 16 August. Four families who attended the event said they wanted to apply for amnesty for their children who do not have residence visas. The problem is their low income, which renders them ineligible for sponsorship of dependents. The embassy said that the cases of single mothers and their dependents would take some time to process because of questions regarding nationality.
Indian organization helps amnesty applicants
Secretary general Partha Lingam of the Tamil Cultural and Social Association said that 60 or about 700 of more than 1,300 amnesty applicants at the Indian association were from Karimnagar and Nizamabad districts of Andhra Pradesh. Those from Andhra Pradesh mostly arrived in Bahrain on visit visas. Unscrupulous agents running the "free-visa" rackets were targeting poor and illiterate people. Each day they assist some 250 applicants in filling their amnesty applications before submitting them to the embassy.
Under a draft law to counter human trafficking, fines of up to BD100,000, seizure of property and imprisonment would be imposed against traffickers. The bill also provides for the creation of an assessment committee and an anti-human trafficking panel. It is scheduled for presentation to parliament for discussions. Meanwhile, the Bahrain Human Rights Society (BHRS) urged the Ministry of Social Development not to appoint members of government-organized NGOs in the national anti-trafficking panel. According to BHRS vice president Abdullah Al Durazi, these organizations lack independence and would tend to mirror government views.
The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights has started investigations against perpetrators of sex trafficking in Bahrain and other Gulf countries via the Internet. The society is stepping up its awareness campaign against sex trafficking and plans to ask companies, bloggers, recruiters, organizations and others to post information about sex trafficking in various languages on their respective websites. The campaign was launched after more than 50 Arabic and English websites were found to advertise women allegedly brought to Bahrain from Europe, the Middle East and Asia for sex.
LMRA will handle issuance of visas to domestic workers
According to Ali Radhi, CEO of LMRA, his office will be responsible for issuing visas for domestic workers starting 2009, instead of the Ministry of Labor. The LMRA would use information from a centralized database that is linked to other government agencies. This system would enable concerned authorities to have the needed information along with evidence of labor violations either by employers or employees. Radhi urged companies employing expatriates to register their workers and update their records with the LMRA by the end of the year in line with the agency's "Data Cleansing Project." He later announced that a team of LMRA officials would be dispatched to register all expatriates in the private sector for its mobile enrolment program.
Deputy Jassim Husain of the Al Wefaq party expressed opposition to the self-sponsorship system for foreign workers, investors and businessmen. He said the granting of two-year renewable visas to foreigners will result in competition with nationals for access to subsidized goods and services in the kingdom. Husain clarified that he was in favor of granting sponsorship to investors but not to foreign workers.
According to medical authorities and occupational safety experts, thousands of construction workers are being exposed daily to the heat and to hazardous chemicals and equipment. An increasing number of patients, most of them in the construction industry, have allegedly been seeking treatment at government hospitals and health centers for minor and major skin diseases. Although these skin diseases are not considered life threatening, they take a long time to heal and cause discomfort to patients. Authorities have called on construction supervisors to follow occupational safety regulations and ensure that their workers wear the necessary safety gear.
A technical working group composed of officials from Bahrain's Ministry of Health and the Philippine Embassy met recently to discuss labor shortages in certain job categories that could be filled by Filipino medical professionals. Among the categories identified were specialist doctors and surgeons, nurses, physical therapists, dentists, x-ray technicians and paramedics. The recruitment of medical professionals from the Philippines is part of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by both countries last April. Under the MoU, the Philippines also agreed to train Bahraini nurses in top institutions in Manila.
Filipino domestic workers jailed
Two Filipino domestic workers were recently meted jail terms by the lower criminal court in separate cases. A 27-year old Filipina was sentenced to six months in jail on charges of stealing a Rolex watch worth BD10,000 belonging to her sponsor's son. The court found the woman guilty despite her claim that she was innocent of the charges. In the other case, a 40-year old Filipina was sentenced to three months in jail on charges of stealing gold rings, earrings, necklaces and a watch from her sponsor. The accused pleaded guilty to the charges, saying she stole the jewelry because she was "very upset and angry" with her employer. The two women will be deported upon serving their jail terms.
Two under-aged runaway Filipina domestic workers, aged 15 and 17, approached the Philippine Embassy shelter, causing alarm among officials. In January and February this year, nine runaway minors who worked as domestic workers in Bahrain similarly sought help at the embassy. The latest incident confirms the trafficking of minors to the kingdom despite efforts by Philippine officials to combat the problem.
The Philippine School in Bahrain (PSB) faces a new challenge in the teaching of the Filipino language due to the increasing number multi-cultural students, some of whom speak little or no Filipino. About 12 percent of PSB's 205 high school students, or about three per class, are of mixed parentage. About five years ago, this percentage was just three to five percent. At present, the medium of instruction at the school is bilingual, with some subjects taught in Filipino and others in English. School administrators revealed that they are looking forward to the new teaching modules specifically designed for Philippine schools overseas that are being prepared by the Commission on Filipinos Overseas in Manila.
A 30-year old Thai carpenter authorized the Thai Embassy to pursue his case against his employer over unpaid wages totaling BD640. He applied for amnesty to return home. The man had been working for a Sitra-based company for almost three years. His employer did not renew his contract when it expired last November. He has not received his salary for nearly three months.
A 36-year old Thai woman, who admitted working in Bahrain as a prostitute, recently lost her appeal against conviction at the High Criminal Appeal Court. The woman had earlier been sentenced by the lower criminal court to six months in jail for prostitution and fined BD50 for overstaying her tourist visa. She was also ordered deported upon completion of her jail term. The woman was apprehended last July when she went to the police to report that a Saudi client of hers had stolen her handbag. Authorities realized that she was not only engaged in an illegal activity but had no valid visa as well.
In a separate incident, the police arrested a 26-year old Thai prostitute who allegedly advertised her services through a pornographic video. She was arrested at a hotel in Gudaibiya earlier this month and was subsequently sentenced to a six-month jail term.
The Indian Embassy announced on 29 August that it had blacklisted over 45 companies for various offenses, including the non-payment of wages, maltreatment of workers and provision of sub-standard accommodations for them. According to Indian Ambassador Balkrishna Shetty, the blacklisted companies would not be allowed to recruit workers from India until they rectify the situation.
2 visa forgers nabbed
The police arrested a Bahraini national and his Indian partner on charges of forging several work visas. According to investigations the two obtained an original visa, scanned it and made five copies of it in an attempt to make extra cash. The police were alerted by the General Directorate of Nationality, Passports and Residence when it found out about the duo's activities. The two men confessed to the crime and will be detained for a week until their case is taken up in court.
El Shaddai, the Goa-based charitable trust working with poor or neglected street children, has promised to look into the possibility of taking into its care a 10-year old abandoned Indian boy in Bahrain. Raja Thanee Prasad was abandoned by his Sri Lankan mother when he was two years old and then by his Indian father when the latter was deported from the country last August. He is currently under the custody of an Indian friend of his father's, but the man does not have the means to take care of him. The Migrant Workers Protection Society (MWPS) is giving financial assistance to Raja and has been trying to reunite him with his father. However, since Raja was born out of wedlock, he was never officially registered in Bahrain. Hence, the main issue for now is to establish the boy's nationality so he could be issued identity papers that would allow him to leave Bahrain.
Immigration authorities caught a 20-year old Pakistani when the latter made the mistake of giving his own name instead of the one on his forged Malaysian passport to an official at the Bahrain International Airport on 3 August. The Lower Criminal Court sentenced him to six months imprisonment followed by immediate deportation for the offense. The defendant admitted that he bought the forged passport from an agent in Malaysia on the agreement that he would pay 1.2 million Pakistani rupees upon reaching his European destination. He used the forged passport to travel to Bahrain and intended to use it also to go to Dubai and eventually Spain if he had not been apprehended.
An undocumented 40-year old Afghan restaurant manager who has been living in Bahrain for the past four years was arrested when he applied for a residence permit at the General Directorate of Nationality, Passports and Residence (GDNPR) on 23 July. The immigration official processing his application discovered that there were no details available at the GDNPR about his passport. The man admitted that he used his original passport when he entered Bahrain with his Saudi sponsor in 2003 to put up a restaurant. However, the Saudi sponsor has since left Bahrain with his original passport forcing him to apply for a new one at the Afghan Embassy in Dubai, the one that he used in applying for a residence permit.
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