If You Refuse Carrots, Our Sticks Are Waiting

To follow my last post on the Bahraini Government-sponsored "Easy Exit Strategy" for illegal workers, this article from Dubai-based Maktoob Business sheds equally valuable light on the alternative approach that is being employed by the Ministry of Labor to facilitate the deportation of illegal workers who choose to stay. The Ministry of Labor has publicly stated that it plans to deport 20,000 illegal workers (approximately half of the estimated 41,000 living in Bahrain) through new initiatives that will drive vendors off the streets and detain workers that do not hold appropriate work visas or residency permits.

According to a senior member of Bahrain's Ministry of Labor,

"Tackling illegal workers in Bahrain is a national duty to protect the country's national economy and security. There are many negative repercussions from the presence of massive numbers of illegal foreigners on all aspects and we therefore need to eradicate this dangerous phenomenon through joint action with all ministries."

Now that incentives have been presented to illegal workers under a newly announced period of amnesty (see below), workers who refuse to turn themselves in voluntarily will face an unforgiving and radical alternative.