‘Enforce ban on firms transporting workers in open vehicles’
http://archive.gulfnews.com/region/Bahrain/10092966.html
12/29/2006 11:51 PM | By Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief
Manama: A Bahraini rights activist has called for a massive campaign to enforce a ban on companies transporting workers in open trucks.
The government, companies, local media and the public should be actively involved in the drive to put an end to a shameful practice that exploits migrant workers, Nabeel Rajab, the vice-president of the now-dissolved Bahrain Centre for Human Rights on Thursday said in a statement to Gulf News.
‘Enforce ban on firms transporting workers in open vehicles’
http://archive.gulfnews.com/region/Bahrain/10092966.html
12/29/2006 11:51 PM | By Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief
Manama: A Bahraini rights activist has called for a massive campaign to enforce a ban on companies transporting workers in open trucks.
The government, companies, local media and the public should be actively involved in the drive to put an end to a shameful practice that exploits migrant workers, Nabeel Rajab, the vice-president of the now-dissolved Bahrain Centre for Human Rights on Thursday said in a statement to Gulf News.
No protection
According to the activist, migrant workers are often piled into the back of commercial vehicles loaded with cargo.
“Large numbers of men 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,” he said.
“Although these practices also violate the Ministry of Labour’s Occupational Hazards and Safety code, officials have failed to ensure their implementation.”
Bahrain’s labour ministry and traffic officials this month said that they would be stepping up efforts to monitor company transport and that the ban on companies transporting workers in open trucks would be enforced early next year.
Last October, three workers were killed and 21 injured in a two-truck crash, one month after 28 construction workers were hurled from the back of an open truck.
“We call on the 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 that in turn publish them as part of a workers’ protection campaign,” Rajab said.