The Free Movement of Foreign Workers: a positive step towards abolishing the sponsorship system, and towards improving the work opportunities of Bahrainis
7 May 2009
The Bahrain Center for Human Rights welcomes moves by Bahraini government, reflected in the Ministry of Labour’s decision, to allow the free movement of migrant workers in Bahrain. The change allows foreign workers to transfer from one job to another independent of their sponsors, and lifts all restrictions that were previously applicable.
The Free Movement of Foreign Workers: a positive step towards abolishing the sponsorship system, and towards improving the work opportunities of Bahrainis
7 May 2009
The Bahrain Center for Human Rights welcomes moves by Bahraini government, reflected in the Ministry of Labour’s decision, to allow the free movement of migrant workers in Bahrain. The change allows foreign workers to transfer from one job to another independent of their sponsors, and lifts all restrictions that were previously applicable.
According to the Official Gazette issued on 30 April, the decision will come into effect next August. The Minister of Labour clarified that, “the worker’s transfer represents one of the important elements for labour market mechanisms to function in a natural way, because it will benefit both the employer and employee alike.” He added, “To push the reform of the labour market one step forward calls for a change based on foundations and principles that are equitable for all.” He also stressed, “Maintaining the current situations is not considered a reform but rather a main retreat from the idea of reform.”
Bahrain now works with the sponsorship system, which is a method used in the GCC countries to bring migrant workers into the country. It is a system that has been internationally condemned and long criticized by international human rights organization, and has been compared to the slave trade system of the past. One of the negative results of this system in Bahrain is the free-visa phenomenon. There are an estimated 60,000 migrants working illegally in Bahrain, most of whom have to make monthly payments to the sponsors who bring them to the country without appropriating jobs for them.
Under the sponsorship system there is a restriction on the free movement of workers to seek employment with any person other than their initial sponsor, and workers are unable to leave the country without their sponsor’s approval. The countries of the Arabian Gulf are ‘receiving countries’ with huge migrant labour populations, and the most violations of migrant workers’ human rights at both the public and official levels. The majority of labourers in the Gulf come from Asian countries such as India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Philippines, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Labourers usually live and work in poor or inhumane conditions. The UN Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, Ms. Sigma Huda criticized the sponsorship system during her last visit to Bahrain and other Gulf countries, and called for the abolishment of this anti-migrant employment system. Ms Huda also appealed Gulf countries to sign the International Convention on the Rights of migrant workers and members of their families.
The BCHR sees in this positive initiative a step towards promoting the protection of the human rights of this vulnerable group of society who have made major contributions to their host countries in the Gulf in terms of construction and infrastructure in the past decades. Abolishing the sponsorship system will make Bahraini workers more capable of competing and improving their job conditions because it will decrease exploitation in employment, and raise new standards for the treatment and conditions of workers in the country. The BCHR calls on the concerned governmental bodies to back up their decision by taking responsibility for the consequences of the transition period by way preserving the rights of all work parties, including employers, and by avoiding the negative consequences of this change on the prices and the living standards of Bahraini citizens.