Bahrain: NEW proposals to tackle the problem of Bahrain’s illegal residents will be presented to MPs today.

They include creating a regulated pool of expat labourers who could be hired by the private sector on short-term contracts.

Before the launch of a six-month amnesty on July 1 authorities estimated around 60,000 foreigners lived in Bahrain illegally. 

Many were “free visa” workers who entered Bahrain on legitimate work permits, but then absconded and now survive on casual
employment. 

Others never left the country when their visas expired, while some bought visas from rogue sponsors who make money from selling work permits on the black market.

The amnesty ends on December 31 and latest figures show 5,074 illegal residents left the country by last month, while 18,595 had legalised their stay through legitimate employment.  

However, concerns that the issue will persist once the amnesty ends have prompted the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) committee at the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry to consider alternative solutions.

“We could have a procedure to legalise these free visa workers into a group, documented and classified based on their skills for employers to choose and hire them on a daily, weekly or monthly basis at nominal fee,” SMEs committee vice-chairman Hamed Fakhro told the GDN. 

He said this would provide a legitimate alternative to using free visa workers.

“Thus the employees and those hiring them are protected under law and it will be easy to monitor that these workers are provided with their basic rights, including decent housing and healthcare.” 

The idea is among solutions outlined in a joint study conducted with the Bahrain Centre for Strategic, International and Energy Studies, which analysed labour markets in Bahrain and the region.

Other proposals to come out of the study include stricter law enforcement, the easing of restrictions on labour migration and better incentives for migrant workers to leave the country at the end of their
contracts.

“The proposals will be handed over to an MPs team headed by Adel Al Asoomi, so they can discuss and debate the viability of the proposed solutions to the free visa issue in Bahrain,” said Mr Fakhro. 

“Subsequently, by mid-January we will hold a round table where the proposal will be presented to all stakeholders including the ministries of Interior, Labour and Industry, Commerce and Tourism, the Labour Market Regulatory Authority and civil agencies responsible for migrant workers.” 

Mr Fakhro said the only way to tackle the problem of illegal residency was to come up with a viable long-term plan.

“This has been a problem for ages due to reasons like a lack of proper regulations or lack of enforcement of laws,”
he added. 

“Supply and demand of migrant workers in the existing labour market will continue, so we have to think of viable and realistic solutions to reduce this phenomenon, if not solve it.

“Our study aims to fix a key part of the issue and with the prospect of cheap labour soon vanishing with subsidies being lifted and rising costs of living, we definitely need to regulate this issue. 

“We should not forget that a strong and clean labour market is one of the strongest pillars of
any economy.” 

raji@gdn.com.bh