Freedom of Expression Threatened...

Excerpt taken from the Weekly Wire Publication from the Project on Middle East Democracy

Concern about Freedom of Expression in Bahrain: On Thursday, 46 human rights groups, including Freedom House and the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, sent a letter to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights expressing "grave concern" about abusive campaigns carried out by Bahraini officials to harass, prosecute, and imprison journalists and political activists. To correct this pattern of abuse, the NGOs implored the UN to apply pressure on Bahrain's government to open up space for all NGOs to operate legally without fear of repercussions and to lift censorship restrictions on both websites and independent journalists and activists.

The full letter can be viewed here.

Expatriate Suicides in Bahrain Prompt Human Rights Evaluation of Migrant Workers

The recent surge in suicide attempts reported in this blog is not confined within Kuwait's borders across the Gulf region. Similar alarming numbers of expatriate worker suicide cases has prompted an investigation by local human rights activists on alleged migrant worker abuses in Bahrain.

Over 100 expatriate workers committed suicide over the last three years; 38 cases from this year alone and large numbers considering Bahrain's small population according to local human rights advocates.

A detailed report covering issues like work safety, living conditions, non-payment of salaries and even the kinds of food that migrant workers eat is expected to be released in September by a branch of the Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society (BHRWS) and will cover all 100 work-related fatalities in detail.

BHRWS' Secretary-General Faisal Fulad revealed that few if any safety standards are often followed on Bahrain's construction sites and there is little regard for workers' lives. He added that even if an accident does occur, it is often "brushed under the rug."

This report offers migrant rights activists a venue to speak out against all of the injustices that contribute to the overall disparaged lives that expatriate workers face while living in Bahrain, providing insight into long-term health problems that workers suffer as a result of poor diet and bad nutrition, the unjustifiably low salaries they receive, and consequently, the dilapidated living conditions available to them.

Although Fulad commented that 50% of the report has already been completed, the remaining portions of the report will still take another four months. A conference will be organized by the BHRWS to coincide with the report's release in September.

Source: TradeNews Arabia News Source

Domestic Worker Enslavement Leads to Increasing Suicide Attempts in Kuwait

To follow-up on an earlier posting from this blog on the startling increase in suicide attempts by mirgrant workers, new data documented in the Migrant-Rights.org blog has revealed that an already dire situation continues to detioriate in Kuwait, where a migrant or domestic worker attempts or fully commits suicide every other day. This trend is emerging as a consequence of the poor and abusive working conditions that Kuwait's expatriate workers face and how many are simply unable to cope.

Migrant-Rights.org reveals that between February 19 and March 25, 2010 (35 days), 17 suicide cases were reported in Kuwait's local media; usually in just two sentences under the "crime" section and without identifiable information other than the victim's nationality. Most of the workers who commit suicide are reported to be domestic workers who simply are not offered any legal protection under Kuwait's private sector labor law, and as a result, remain completely dependent on the sponsors that employ them.

It is illegal for domestic workers to leave the employing authority held by their sponsor, presenting limited options to move freely and escape enslavement.

India's Ambassador Warns Citizens of Sponsor Exploitation in Bahrain

In a monthly gathering held at the Indian Embassy in Adliya Bahrain last week, the Indian Ambassador Dr. George Joseph discussed two critical issues that have recently affected the sizable Indian community living in Bahrain. The Indian Embassy is one of just a few that host monthly open houses to share contemporary, relevant information to its citizens in an attempt to limit worker exploitation, deportation, and abuses often resulting from strategic loopholes Bahrainis recognize in their legal system and utilize at the expense of unsuspecting expat workers.

Most relevant to the topics covered in this blog was Ambassador Joseph's second point, which took shape in more of a warning he impressed on gathering onlookers.

There has been a recent wave of cases that are presented to the Embassy where sponsors tell their employees to not show up for work and then purposely report them as runaways to Bahrain's Labor Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) to avoid paying monthly sponsorship fees.

The Indian Ambassador encouraged his citizens to report their temporary suspension to the LMRA if it exceeds one day-off, as evidence that proves they did not attempt to flee from their sponsor.

Moreover, the Embassy is now working with a new legal consultant who focuses on these, and similar cases of worker exploitation brought to the Embassy. This is an exciting, atypical service currently unavailable to most of Bahrain's migrant worker communities. Perhaps the Indian Embassy's use of a legal consultant will provide the necessary support to more adequately address cases of worker exploitation and pave the way for other diplomatic missions in the country to offer justice in local legal disputes.

Ambassador Joseph also reminded participants that workers must refuse to work for anyone but their sponsor, because if they are caught they face deportation and blacklisting for any future job opportunities in Bahrain. Similarly, he discouraged workers from beginning jobs under new sponsorship until they legally petition to switch sponsors under Bahrain's new Mobility Law and they receive a new work visa from the LMRA.

These monthly open houses are an exciting and intelligent venue through which legal rights and pertinent information for Bahrain's expatriate communities can be shared, perhaps limiting cases of employee exploitation or even having enough influence to prevent human trafficking.

Skyscrapers Built Overnight in Bahrain

It appears that pioneering initiatives led by the Bahraini Government to protect its private sector workforce, including the implementation of new working hour regulations and promoting the responsible safeguards that one would expect to see in a country that boasts a "Business Friendly" mantra have had limited effect. This video shot by me near Bahrain's Exhibition Road demonstrates that the national capital Manama is truly a city that never sleeps.

And how can it, when construction workers are forced to work late into the evening in order to finish a project in record time?

It is certainly easier to understand how skyscrapers are literally "built overnight" by the labor of exploited workers.

Bahrain's New Private Sector Labor Law Falls Short of Expectations

After months of filibustering and internal negotiations over anticipated amendments to Bahrain's private sector labor, Bahrain's Upper House, the Shura Council finally reached an agreement approving a new private sector law that will award compensation to employees if their job contracts are terminated. The key article that allows sacked employees compensation from their employers was reinstated last week after previously being rejected by the Council, stating that it was a legal loophole that allotted too much financial responsibility to the employer. Now, employers will be held accountable for compensation packages of their sacked employees if the company completely or even partially fails, or enters a period of limited activity or production.

However, employees under open contracts are only able to demand three months of their salary, or the remaining salaries owed to them in timed contracts as compensation.

Many believe that this arrangement is "catastrophic," unfair and offers insufficient coverage to employees on open contracts, many of whom are the most vulnerable and would benefit most from legal safeguards to protect and award them for untimely termination.

The new law also remitted a previously rejected article offering widows compensation for days of mourning prescribed under Islamic Law. When the article was originally rejected a few weeks ago, the Shura Councilors agreed that the financial cost for the employer would be huge. Negotiations over the required 4 months and 10 days required in Islamic Shari'a Law revealed some disagreements amongst Council members who demanded the time be shortened to just 1 month. In the end, lobbyers in favor of religious tradition prevailed and the amendment was finalized.

The approved law will now be referred to Parliament before it is fully implemented.

Source: TradeNews Arabia

Migrant Workers Melt Like Candles to Give Light to Their Families Back Home

Recent shocking statements made by Chairman K V Shamsudeen of the Pravasi Bandhu Welfare Trust (PBWT) divulged that only five percent of Indian expatriates living in Bahrain would lead a comfortable lifestyle from their earnings if they were forced to return home. These findings reflect the extravagant lifestyles their families are creating with the hard-earned remittances received from their migrant worker relatives and a disregard for responsible saving habits. The Sharjah-based representative said that this problem occurred across other national groups as well, including Filipinos, Bangladeshis, Sri Lankans and Pakistanis.

The TradeArabia News Source reported that this startling percentage of low and middle income migrant workers from India who have worked in the Gulf States for decades, are returning home with little or no resources to further support their families.

The survey from which this information was derived was conducted by the PBWT and included 10,100 migrant workers from India living in the Gulf Corporation Council (GCC) countries, including 1,500 from Bahrain who admitted that their sacrifices and self-deprivation in exchange for the well-being of their families back home yielded little long-term benefit.

Shamsudeen stated that only 2% of Indian families were responsibly saving portions of the remittances they receive, and encouraged migrant workers to discuss the harsh and often unforgiving conditions they face while living in the Gulf with their families, as a way to encourage more conservative spending habits, explore wiser investment opportunities, and inspire greater appreciation for the money they receive, especially given the precarious nature of their jobs vis a vis the recent global economic downturn. Shamsudeen eloquently explained that saving in small drops will eventually make an ocean.

80% of workers surveyed were married, but only 10% had their families living with them in the Gulf.

To add insult to injury, migrant workers are often ignored by their families if they do not receive remittances. Families in India were said to not appreciate the sacrifices that their spouses/relatives make while trying to support them; many often enjoy only one meal a day and live in deplorable conditions.

5 Million "Non-Resident Indians" as they are called live and work in the GCC countries, 60% of whom come from the Kerala region in southern India.

This article is particularly au courant given recent initiatives taken by regional governments to forcibly deport migrant workers living in the GCC countries illegally, including Bahrain. Knowing that the hard work invested by these workers will yield nothing once they return home is heart-wrenching.