Bangladeshi workers in Bahrain get good news amid COVID-19 crisis
Bahrain has taken a positive step concerning the migrant workers in the country who were pitched into uncertainty because of situation created by the coronavirus crisis. The government there has declared a general amnesty and the 40,000 Bangladeshi workers there now have the chance to legalise their positions. The visas of many of the workers had expired and also some did not have valid documents. Now they can regularise their stay there.
Bangladesh’s ambassador to Bahrain, Md Nazrul Islam, on Saturday told Prothom Alo, the Bahrain government had decided at the beginning of this month to legalise 55,000 foreign workers whose stay had become illegal. As a result, around 40,000 of the 50 thousand Bangladeshi workers in Bahrain will now become legally documented workers.
Diplomatic sources in Bahrain on Friday told Prothom Alo that requests have been made for quite some time to Bahrain to give the Bangladeshi workers, whose validity there had lapsed, the chance to legitimise their position. Now, in view of the situation emerging from the coronavirus outbreak, the king of Bahrain had declared that all workers who have become illegal there, were now legitimised.
No new workers are being taken in to Bahrain at the moment. However, once the country’s economy revives fully by the beginning of the coming year, they will start taking in more workers.
The ambassador said that there were around 200,000 Bangladeshi workers in Bahrain presently. The validity of around 50,000 had lapsed on various grounds. The Bangladeshi workers there were mostly construction workers, drivers and cleaners. And around 5000 or so were running small businesses there.
Bangladesh’s ambassador to Bahrain, Md Nazrul Islam, on Saturday told Prothom Alo, the Bahrain government had decided at the beginning of this month to legalise 55,000 foreign workers whose stay had become illegal. As a result, around 40,000 of the 50 thousand Bangladeshi workers in Bahrain will now become legally documented workers.
The Bangladesh embassy there had advised all Bangladesh workers in Bahrain to properly submit their applications in this regard. The embassy is also discussing with the authorities there to ensure that Bangladeshi workers manage to avail the highest benefits from this gesture.
Ambassador Md Nazrul Islam said, due to the COVID-19 situation, the Bahrain government has also exempted all foreign workers from paying any sort of taxes till June next year.
The ambassador said that there were around 200,000 Bangladeshi workers in Bahrain presently. The validity of around 50,000 had lapsed on various grounds. The Bangladeshi workers there were mostly construction workers, drivers and cleaners. And around 5000 or so were running small businesses there.
He said that in order to ensure that the Bangladeshi workers could avail this chance to regularise their stay in Bahrain, the embassy was making arrangements so that they could issue new passports or renew old ones through Bahrain Post. They are also using the services of Bahrain Finance Company to ensure that the workers can register with the Labour Market Regulatory Authority.
Bahrain’s state news agency Gulf Daily News (GDN) quoted the chief executive of the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA), Osama Al Abbasi, as saying that basically those who had gone to Bahrain on free visas, would be able to avail this opportunity. Those who applied by 31 December this year, would be granted general amnesty. These workers will be legalised and have the chance to begin working anew in Bahrain or, if they wanted, they could return to their own countries without paying any fine. Workers who had become irregular or whose contracts had expired, could apply for flexible work permits and avail the general amnesty.
Osama Al Abbasi told GDN, this step was taken on humanitarian grounds in view of the special circumstances so that all irregular foreign workers would get the chance to regularize themselves or return to their own countries.
He however said that the workers who were facing charges and were under trial, would not come under purview of this general amnesty. That means this offer would not apply to those who had come on tourist visas and had stayed back even after their visas expired or those who have been prohibited from travelling in Bahrain.
Back in 2015, Bahrain had granted general amnesty for 6 months to foreign workers, giving them a chance to legitimise their stay there. Around 42,000 workers got the opportunity to become legalised. Of them, 32,000 stayed back in Bahrain while the remaining 10,000 returned to their respective countries.
According to statistics of last December, there are presently 498,000 foreign workers in Bahrain.
* This report has been rewritten in English by Ayesha Kabir