Human trafficking in Bahrain
Encyclopedia
Bahrain
is a destination country for men and women subjected to trafficking in persons
, specifically forced labor and forced prostitution
. Men and women from India
, Pakistan
, Nepal
, Sri Lanka
, Bangladesh
, Indonesia
, Thailand
, the Philippines
, Ethiopia
, and Eritrea
migrate voluntarily to Bahrain to work as domestic worker
s or as unskilled laborers in the construction and service industries. Some, however, face conditions of forced labor after arriving in Bahrain, through use of such practices as unlawful withholding of passport
s, restrictions on movement, contract substitution, non-payment of wages, threats, and physical or sexual abuse.
A study by the Bahrain Government’s Labor Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) found that 65 percent of migrant worker
s had not seen their employment contract, and that 89 percent were unaware of their terms of employment upon arrival in Bahrain. Many labor recruitment agencies in Bahrain and source countries require workers to pay high recruitment fees – a practice that makes workers highly vulnerable to forced labor once in Bahrain. The LMRA study found that 70 percent of foreign workers borrowed money or sold property in their home countries in order to secure a job in Bahrain.
Some Bahraini employers illegally charge workers exorbitant fees to remain in Bahrain working for third-party employers (under the “free visa” arrangement). The LMRA estimates that approximately 10 percent of migrant workers were in Bahrain under illegal “free visa” arrangements – a practice that can contribute to debt bondage
– while the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry puts the figure at 25 percent. Women from Thailand, the Philippines, Morocco
, Jordan
, Syria
, Lebanon
, Russia
, China
, Vietnam
and Eastern European States are subjected to forced prostitution in Bahrain.
The Government of Bahrain does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The government reported its second and third prosecutions under its anti-trafficking statute, and continued to educate potential trafficking victims on their rights. However, the government did not show evidence of progress in providing protective services to victims or prosecuting offenses related to labor trafficking, the most prevalent form of trafficking in Bahrain.
.
The Bahrain government reported two new prosecutions and one new investigation under the anti-trafficking law in the reporting period; all three of these cases involved sex trafficking. One of the prosecutions involved a Bahraini employee of the Ministry of Interior and a Thai
national accused of trafficking Asian women into prostitution. The other involved a Bahraini and a Russian national accused of trafficking Russian women
. Furthermore, two Bahraini nationals were sentenced to life imprisonment
in April and October 2009 for murdering their Indonesia
n and Ethiopia
n housemaids, respectively; the government reported that these cases contained elements of human trafficking
. The government did not criminally prosecute any employers or labor agents for forced labor
of migrant laborers, including domestic workers.
There is some indication that government officials may be involved in human trafficking. NGOs
and laborers assert that Bahraini officials provide Bahrainis with authorization to sponsor more expatriate workers than they could reasonably employ, and that in their private capacities, some officials illegally engage in “free visa” arrangements and withhold employees’ passports and salaries. The Royal Police Academy provided new police recruits with specific instruction on identifying trafficking victims during the reporting period. In addition, 29 law enforcement officers participated in a three-day trafficking-related investigations course run by International Organization for Migration
(IOM), one of several anti-trafficking programs run by IOM in partnership with the Government of Bahrain. In early 2010, the Government of Bahrain centralized all trafficking-related prosecutions within the office of the Chief Prosecutor for the Manama
district.
who have left their employers or women arrested for prostitution. As a result, potential trafficking victims may have been charged with employment or immigration violations, detained, and deported without adequate protection. Most migrant worker
s who were able to flee their abusive employers were frequently charged as “runaways,” sentenced to two weeks’ detention
, and deported
. The government does not ensure that victims receive access to essential protective services, except for the very small number referred to the government’s primary shelter.
The 120-bed government-funded, NGO-run Dar Al Aman shelter provided shelter to a small number of trafficking victims. The majority of victims continued to seek shelter at their embassies or at the Migrant Workers Protection Society’s shelter. The Dar Al Aman shelter does not advertise that it accepts trafficking victims, and many police officers were unfamiliar with procedures for referring victims of labor abuse and human trafficking. An international NGO reported that the shelter restricted residents’ freedom of movement
, was not staffed with qualified personnel, and did not provide long-term shelter or housing benefits to victims.
There is a restrictive intake process for non-Bahraini victims; however, in January 2010, the government’s inter-ministerial anti-trafficking committee indicated that it instructed police and prosecutors to refer any abused female worker to the shelter, regardless of signs of abuse. There are no shelters for male trafficking victims or abused or runaway workers.
The three trafficking victims who the government identified during the reporting period were referred to the Dar Al Aman shelter and received legal, medical, and psychological services. The government of Bahrain encouraged victims to participate in the investigation and prosecution of traffickers. However, discouraged workers typically did not file court cases against employers due to fear or ignorance of the law, distrust of the legal system, inability to afford legal representation, lack of interpretation/translation, fear of losing residency permits during legal proceedings, and to avoid additional maltreatment at the hands of the employer. The government does not provide legal alternatives for the removal of foreign victims to countries where they face retribution or hardship. The Ministry of Interior established a toll-free hotline
in January 2010 for trafficking victims, although NGOs report that news of the hotline has not been widely disseminated.
over the reporting period. While Bahrain’s Ministry of Labor has pledged to end the sponsorship (kafala) system, foreign workers remain tied to a Bahraini sponsor.
The government implemented reforms in August 2009 which designated the Labor Market Regulatory Authority as the lead agency for granting work permits to foreign workers, and expanding labor mobility for expatriate workers, under certain conditions. These reforms do not cover Bahrain’s approximately 70,000 domestic worker
s – the group that is most vulnerable to trafficking. Another labor market reform limited the number of foreign workers small businesses many sponsor, which the LMRA states will cut back on illegal “free visa” arrangements and other labor abuses.
The parliament’s upper house recently approved a new labor law; however, it does not afford basic protections to domestic workers – the group most vulnerable to human trafficking. Moreover, the law against withholding workers’ passport
s – a common practice that restricts the mobility of migrant workers and contributes to forced labor – was not enforced effectively, and the practice remained widespread. The LMRA continued to distribute pamphlets – prepared in coordination with the IOM – that explained how to legally obtain, maintain and switch a work visa, and provided contact details to report suspected labor violations.
The LMRA also sponsored a Hindi radio show designed to raise awareness of workers’ rights. The government closed down a number of low-end hotels associated with organized prostitution
. The government continued to provide financial support towards an IOM anti-trafficking capacity building program. The government does not have a National Plan of Action to address trafficking in persons. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Undersecretary chaired an inter-ministerial committee that coordinates policies designed to combat trafficking. This committee convenes every other month on average, and includes government ministries, NGOs, and the Bahrain Women’s Union. The Ministry of Labor, which deals with most workers’ complaints, is currently not represented on this committee.
Bahrain
' , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,214,705, including 235,108 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.Bahrain is...
is a destination country for men and women subjected to trafficking in persons
Human trafficking
Human trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor, or a modern-day form of slavery...
, specifically forced labor and forced prostitution
Forced prostitution
Forced prostitution, also known as involuntary prostitution, is the act of performing sexual activity in exchange for money on a non-voluntary basis. There are a wide range of entry routes into prostitution, ranging from "voluntary and deliberate" entry, "semi-voluntary" based on pressure of...
. Men and women from India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
, Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, and Eritrea
Eritrea
Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...
migrate voluntarily to Bahrain to work as domestic worker
Domestic worker
A domestic worker is a man, woman or child who works within the employer's household. Domestic workers perform a variety of household services for an individual or a family, from providing care for children and elderly dependents to cleaning and household maintenance, known as housekeeping...
s or as unskilled laborers in the construction and service industries. Some, however, face conditions of forced labor after arriving in Bahrain, through use of such practices as unlawful withholding of passport
Passport
A passport is a document, issued by a national government, which certifies, for the purpose of international travel, the identity and nationality of its holder. The elements of identity are name, date of birth, sex, and place of birth....
s, restrictions on movement, contract substitution, non-payment of wages, threats, and physical or sexual abuse.
A study by the Bahrain Government’s Labor Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) found that 65 percent of migrant worker
Migrant worker
The term migrant worker has different official meanings and connotations in different parts of the world. The United Nations' definition is broad, including any people working outside of their home country...
s had not seen their employment contract, and that 89 percent were unaware of their terms of employment upon arrival in Bahrain. Many labor recruitment agencies in Bahrain and source countries require workers to pay high recruitment fees – a practice that makes workers highly vulnerable to forced labor once in Bahrain. The LMRA study found that 70 percent of foreign workers borrowed money or sold property in their home countries in order to secure a job in Bahrain.
Some Bahraini employers illegally charge workers exorbitant fees to remain in Bahrain working for third-party employers (under the “free visa” arrangement). The LMRA estimates that approximately 10 percent of migrant workers were in Bahrain under illegal “free visa” arrangements – a practice that can contribute to debt bondage
Debt bondage
Debt bondage is when a person pledges him or herself against a loan. In debt bondage, the services required to repay the debt may be undefined, and the services' duration may be undefined...
– while the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry puts the figure at 25 percent. Women from Thailand, the Philippines, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
, Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
and Eastern European States are subjected to forced prostitution in Bahrain.
The Government of Bahrain does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The government reported its second and third prosecutions under its anti-trafficking statute, and continued to educate potential trafficking victims on their rights. However, the government did not show evidence of progress in providing protective services to victims or prosecuting offenses related to labor trafficking, the most prevalent form of trafficking in Bahrain.
Prosecution
The Government of Bahrain made some progress in conducting anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts during the year. The 2008 Law to Combat Trafficking in Persons prohibits all forms of trafficking in persons and prescribes penalties ranging from three to 15 years’ imprisonment, which are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rapeRape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
.
The Bahrain government reported two new prosecutions and one new investigation under the anti-trafficking law in the reporting period; all three of these cases involved sex trafficking. One of the prosecutions involved a Bahraini employee of the Ministry of Interior and a Thai
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
national accused of trafficking Asian women into prostitution. The other involved a Bahraini and a Russian national accused of trafficking Russian women
Women in Russia
In the post-Soviet era, the position of women in Russian society remains at least as problematic as it was in previous decades. In both cases, a number of nominal legal protections for women either have failed to address the existing conditions or have failed to supply adequate support...
. Furthermore, two Bahraini nationals were sentenced to life imprisonment
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
in April and October 2009 for murdering their Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
n and Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
n housemaids, respectively; the government reported that these cases contained elements of human trafficking
Human trafficking
Human trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor, or a modern-day form of slavery...
. The government did not criminally prosecute any employers or labor agents for forced labor
Unfree labour
Unfree labour includes all forms of slavery as well as all other related institutions .-Payment for unfree labour:If payment occurs, it may be in one or more of the following forms:...
of migrant laborers, including domestic workers.
There is some indication that government officials may be involved in human trafficking. NGOs
Non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...
and laborers assert that Bahraini officials provide Bahrainis with authorization to sponsor more expatriate workers than they could reasonably employ, and that in their private capacities, some officials illegally engage in “free visa” arrangements and withhold employees’ passports and salaries. The Royal Police Academy provided new police recruits with specific instruction on identifying trafficking victims during the reporting period. In addition, 29 law enforcement officers participated in a three-day trafficking-related investigations course run by International Organization for Migration
International Organization for Migration
The International Organization for Migration is an intergovernmental organization. It was initially established in 1951 as the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration to help resettle people displaced by World War II....
(IOM), one of several anti-trafficking programs run by IOM in partnership with the Government of Bahrain. In early 2010, the Government of Bahrain centralized all trafficking-related prosecutions within the office of the Chief Prosecutor for the Manama
Manama
Manama is the capital and largest city of Bahrain, with an approximate population of 155,000 people.Long an important trading center in the Persian Gulf, Manama is home to a very diverse population...
district.
Protection
The Government of Bahrain made no discernible progress in improving protective services available to trafficking victims over the last year. The government continued to lack a formal procedure to identify victims among vulnerable groups, such as migrant domestic workersMigrant domestic workers
Migrant Domestic Workers who work for wealthy families in the UK are currently allowed to change employers without breaking the law so long as they continue working full time as a domestic worker in a private household....
who have left their employers or women arrested for prostitution. As a result, potential trafficking victims may have been charged with employment or immigration violations, detained, and deported without adequate protection. Most migrant worker
Migrant worker
The term migrant worker has different official meanings and connotations in different parts of the world. The United Nations' definition is broad, including any people working outside of their home country...
s who were able to flee their abusive employers were frequently charged as “runaways,” sentenced to two weeks’ detention
Detention (imprisonment)
Detention is the process when a state, government or citizen lawfully holds a person by removing their freedom of liberty at that time. This can be due to criminal charges being raised against the individual as part of a prosecution or to protect a person or property...
, and deported
Deportation
Deportation means the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. Today it often refers to the expulsion of foreign nationals whereas the expulsion of nationals is called banishment, exile, or penal transportation...
. The government does not ensure that victims receive access to essential protective services, except for the very small number referred to the government’s primary shelter.
The 120-bed government-funded, NGO-run Dar Al Aman shelter provided shelter to a small number of trafficking victims. The majority of victims continued to seek shelter at their embassies or at the Migrant Workers Protection Society’s shelter. The Dar Al Aman shelter does not advertise that it accepts trafficking victims, and many police officers were unfamiliar with procedures for referring victims of labor abuse and human trafficking. An international NGO reported that the shelter restricted residents’ freedom of movement
Freedom of movement
Freedom of movement, mobility rights or the right to travel is a human right concept that the constitutions of numerous states respect...
, was not staffed with qualified personnel, and did not provide long-term shelter or housing benefits to victims.
There is a restrictive intake process for non-Bahraini victims; however, in January 2010, the government’s inter-ministerial anti-trafficking committee indicated that it instructed police and prosecutors to refer any abused female worker to the shelter, regardless of signs of abuse. There are no shelters for male trafficking victims or abused or runaway workers.
The three trafficking victims who the government identified during the reporting period were referred to the Dar Al Aman shelter and received legal, medical, and psychological services. The government of Bahrain encouraged victims to participate in the investigation and prosecution of traffickers. However, discouraged workers typically did not file court cases against employers due to fear or ignorance of the law, distrust of the legal system, inability to afford legal representation, lack of interpretation/translation, fear of losing residency permits during legal proceedings, and to avoid additional maltreatment at the hands of the employer. The government does not provide legal alternatives for the removal of foreign victims to countries where they face retribution or hardship. The Ministry of Interior established a toll-free hotline
Hotline
In telecommunication, a hotline is a point-to-point communications link in which a call is automatically directed to the preselected destination without any additional action by the user when the end instrument goes off-hook...
in January 2010 for trafficking victims, although NGOs report that news of the hotline has not been widely disseminated.
Prevention
The government made limited progress in preventing human traffickingHuman trafficking
Human trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor, or a modern-day form of slavery...
over the reporting period. While Bahrain’s Ministry of Labor has pledged to end the sponsorship (kafala) system, foreign workers remain tied to a Bahraini sponsor.
The government implemented reforms in August 2009 which designated the Labor Market Regulatory Authority as the lead agency for granting work permits to foreign workers, and expanding labor mobility for expatriate workers, under certain conditions. These reforms do not cover Bahrain’s approximately 70,000 domestic worker
Domestic worker
A domestic worker is a man, woman or child who works within the employer's household. Domestic workers perform a variety of household services for an individual or a family, from providing care for children and elderly dependents to cleaning and household maintenance, known as housekeeping...
s – the group that is most vulnerable to trafficking. Another labor market reform limited the number of foreign workers small businesses many sponsor, which the LMRA states will cut back on illegal “free visa” arrangements and other labor abuses.
The parliament’s upper house recently approved a new labor law; however, it does not afford basic protections to domestic workers – the group most vulnerable to human trafficking. Moreover, the law against withholding workers’ passport
Passport
A passport is a document, issued by a national government, which certifies, for the purpose of international travel, the identity and nationality of its holder. The elements of identity are name, date of birth, sex, and place of birth....
s – a common practice that restricts the mobility of migrant workers and contributes to forced labor – was not enforced effectively, and the practice remained widespread. The LMRA continued to distribute pamphlets – prepared in coordination with the IOM – that explained how to legally obtain, maintain and switch a work visa, and provided contact details to report suspected labor violations.
The LMRA also sponsored a Hindi radio show designed to raise awareness of workers’ rights. The government closed down a number of low-end hotels associated with organized prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
. The government continued to provide financial support towards an IOM anti-trafficking capacity building program. The government does not have a National Plan of Action to address trafficking in persons. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Undersecretary chaired an inter-ministerial committee that coordinates policies designed to combat trafficking. This committee convenes every other month on average, and includes government ministries, NGOs, and the Bahrain Women’s Union. The Ministry of Labor, which deals with most workers’ complaints, is currently not represented on this committee.