Bahrain Center for Human Rights
28 December 2006
Ref: 06122801
In a country that is establishing its place on the international financial market through massive construction and development projects, the human cost of such ventures are shamefully ignored. The practice of transporting migrant labourers to and from worksites in the back of open trailers and trucks is a deplorable way in which companies cut costs at a high human expense.
Bahrain Center for Human Rights
28 December 2006
Ref: 06122801
In a country that is establishing its place on the international financial market through massive construction and development projects, the human cost of such ventures are shamefully ignored. The practice of transporting migrant labourers to and from worksites in the back of open trailers and trucks is a deplorable way in which companies cut costs at a high human expense.
Article 16 of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families states that “migrant workers and members of their families shall be entitled to effective protection by the State against violence, physical injury, threats and intimidation, whether by public officials or by private individuals, groups or institutions.”
Migrant workers are often piled into the back of goods-carrier vehicles along with materials. Large numbers of men being crowded into the back of trucks without any protection from the hot, cold or wet weather is a common sight in Bahrain. They can also be seen being transported without seats or seatbelts.
Although these practices also violate the Ministry of Labour’s Occupational Hazards and Safety code, officials continue to fail in ensuring its implementation.
The danger of these practices is obvious. In October this year three workers were killed and 21 injured in a collision between the truck in which they were being transported and a trailer, as reported in the local press on October 9. “The men who died were thrown out of the back of a six-wheel pick-up, in a collision with a trailer lorry carrying heavy building materials,” according to the Gulf Daily News.[1]
According to the Bahrain Tribune, the accident was the third of its kind, involving “migrant workers being transported in open trucks or trailers”.[2]
These incidents are merely examples of the corrupt and inhumane policy of transporting migrant workers in conditions worse than those used to transport animals. The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights condemns such unabated and unchecked violations of human rights.
“We call on companies to adopt at least minimum humanitarian standards in treating workers,” vice president Nabeel Rajab said.
“We urge the Bahrain government to take such gross violations of the law seriously, and to act against their perpetrators, ensuring that its people’s wealth is not built upon the misery of others.
“We call on the local media to take up a campaign against companies which continue to violate the rights of their workers. Readers should be encouraged to send photos of such blatant violations to newspapers who can in turn publish them as part of a workers’ protection campaign.
“And finally, we call on Bahrain’s public to boycott companies which refuse to respect the dignity and hard work of their employees.
“With such combined efforts, let us ensure that the conditions for workers are as bright as the future these developments promise to bring to our country.”
Notes:
[1] “Outrage as workers killed in smash” and “Workers killed in pick-up crash“, Gulf Daily News, 9 October 2006[2] “Crash kills 3” and “Too shocked to remember“, Bahrain Tribune, 9 October 2006