Trafficking in Persons 2009 Interim Assessment - Bahrain

Below is a fairly bleak review of Bahrain's human trafficking prevention, protection and persecution efforts during the 2009 reporting period. Although this assessment presents obstacles that the Bahraini government continues to face, I hope that this data will be presented in the official report within a contextualizes these current conditions and realities, and offers insight into the achievements that Bahrain has reached over the last year as well. Although they currently do not address domestic workers, glossing over "reforms" that enable labor mobility is a huge milestone for any country in the Persian Gulf and should be viewed as a springboard for further progress, rather than a perceived half-hearted effort to perpetuate limited freedoms for domestic workers. We see baby steps in Bahrain, but at least they are steps forward.

Unfortunately, we have not seen any new prosecutions under Bahrain's anti-trafficking law; however, victims of crimes that are certainly linked to trafficking have sought and gained justice. Trafficked victims who suffer abuse and withheld wages can petition for legal intervention and gain reprise from perpetrators of trafficking-related crimes. I underscore that it is very difficult to pinpoint cases of trafficking anywhere, and as this unprecedented and evolving law is taking shape in Bahrain (remember, essentially the only active anti-trafficking law in the Persian Gulf), cases stemming from trafficking will be clarified and hopefully be easily identifiable in the near future.

From the introductory text accompanying this report on the U.S. Department of State website:

"In most cases, the Interim Assessment is intended to serve as a tool by which to gauge the anti-trafficking progress of countries that may be in danger of slipping a tier in the upcoming June 2010 TIP Report and to give them guidance on how to avoid a Tier 3 ranking. It is a tightly focused progress report, assessing the concrete actions a government has taken to address the key deficiencies highlighted in the June 2009 TIP Report. The Interim Assessment covers actions undertaken between the beginning of May – the cutoff for data covered in the June TIP Report – and November. Readers are requested to refer to the annual TIP Report for an analysis of large-scale efforts and a description of the trafficking problem in each particular country or territory."

The Government of Bahrain has made limited progress since the release of the 2009 TIP Report. Bahrain has not initiated new prosecutions under its 2008 anti-trafficking law. The Bahraini government indicated that there have been a number of prosecutions under separate non-trafficking statutes that could be related to trafficking, including life sentences imposed on two Bahraini citizens convicted of murdering their domestic workers.

The majority of potential trafficking victims continue to be prosecuted for prostitution or immigration violations and quickly deported, although in the single application of Bahrain's anti-trafficking law in December 2008, some victims who were identified were not prosecuted and were referred to protective services. There remains no formalized procedure for identifying potential trafficking victims. The Bahraini government continues to refer suspected victims (nearly all women) on an ad hoc basis to protective services; they have not yet implemented a formal referral process.

Bahrain, in August 2009, implemented reforms designed to enable labor mobility for expatriate workers. These reforms do not cover Bahrain's approximately 70,000 migrant domestic workers – the group that is most vulnerable to trafficking. The parliament is considering draft legislation, however, that would include domestic servants in the 1976 Labor Law, giving them the same protections now afforded to other expatriate workers.