Call for multi-language campaign for Bahrain amnesty plan to succeed
http://archive.gulfnews.com/region/Bahrain/10135477.html
06/28/2007 11:34 PM | By Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief
Manama: A Bahraini rights watchdog has warned that a government amnesty plan to be launched in August to help migrants working illegally in the country, would not succeed without a proper multi-language awareness campaign and strict action against abusive employers.
“We welcome the news of a six-month workers’ amnesty … in August. However, for this move to be more than a cosmetic measure, the Labour Ministry and other parties must make every possible effort to ensure that workers are given clear information about how the amnesty will work,” the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights yesterday told Gulf News.
Call for multi-language campaign for Bahrain amnesty plan to succeed
http://archive.gulfnews.com/region/Bahrain/10135477.html
06/28/2007 11:34 PM | By Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief
Manama: A Bahraini rights watchdog has warned that a government amnesty plan to be launched in August to help migrants working illegally in the country, would not succeed without a proper multi-language awareness campaign and strict action against abusive employers.
“We welcome the news of a six-month workers’ amnesty … in August. However, for this move to be more than a cosmetic measure, the Labour Ministry and other parties must make every possible effort to ensure that workers are given clear information about how the amnesty will work,” the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights yesterday told Gulf News.
“It is particularly important that domestic workers who live in their sponsors’ homes and have extremely limited freedom of movement and little access to the outside world, are provided with information about the amnesty,” the centre said.
The authorities should, for instance, publish pamphletes in various languages explaining the amnesty and what steps they need to take to ensure they are working within the framework of the law, the centre said.
“The government should also encourage local employers to facilitate the transfer of workers to legal employment and to lift any governmental complication for the local employer to do so,” according to the centre.
Help to return home
The embassies and social clubs of the workers’ countries should also create and distribute materials in their citizens’ languages and implement initiatives to reach out to them.
“The embassies and social clubs should provide financial assistance to workers who wish to return to their homeland, but cannot afford to pay the travel fare.”
But the centre insisted that the Labour Ministry should not limit its action to the “vulnerable” workers, many of whom end up working illegally because of desperate economic conditions.
“The ministry must ensure that companies and individuals exploiting ‘free visa’ workers are made to comply with the law,” the centre said.