The Secretary General of the Bahrain Human Rights Society (BHRS) Dr Abdullah Al Durazi told Khaleej Times that many expatriates were not aware of clauses of the Anti-Human Trafficking Law that was approved in January.
He said that the legislation protects the rights of foreign workers to stay in Bahrain and work until the end of their legal cases and they would not face deportation if the verdicts come in their favors.
Dr Al Dirazi is calling on all lawyers in the country to keep records of cases filed by employers against their foreign workers or the opposite as well as inform expatriates mainly labourers about their rights. President of the Bahrain Transparency Society and member of the BHRS Abdulnabi Al Ekri backed the law and said that such decision could enhance labour rights and the Kingdom’s anti-human trafficking efforts.
Al Ekri said that out of frustration, many workers choose to runaway and stay illegally in Bahrain, so if those workers know that they could pursue legal cases a g a i n s t t h e i r employers without losing their jobs many problems in the labour market would be solved.
“Unpaid wages, bad living conditions among other reasons has forced several expatriate workers to choose the option of living in anonymity.
Majority of these workers are employed in the booming construction sector of the country continue to live in shadows,” Al Ekri said.
