National Institution for Human Rights – Kingdom of Bahrain
increase of escape cases, which disrupted the relationship between domestic workers
and homeowners, confirms the importance of enacting a legislation to regulate the
affairs of this category. The average number of escape reports registered with the
Ministry of Labor during the years (2011, 2012, and 2013) is approximately 1,500
workers annually.
19. The Government exerted efforts in controlling expatriate workers’ accommodations.
These efforts consist of setting up field work teams at the level of the governorates
of the Kingdom, to identify the buildings and houses that pose risks to residents and
their visitors. These teams are headed by the governor of the province and include
members from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Urban Planning, Ministry of
Labor, Ministry of Public Works, Ministry of Health, Electricity and Water Authority,
and the General Directorate of Civil Defense. However, in spite of these efforts, NIHR
observed repeated cases of fire eruption in expatriate workers’ accommodations
due to lack of the most basic standards of decent living and safety, which resulted
in some death cases. The Ministry of Labor indicated, in its report published on
December 15, 2013, that it inspected the accommodations of expatriate workers and
asked the companies to make these accommodations suitable for living. However,
there are still a number of companies which have not complied with the minimum
requirements. This requires taking legal action against these companies by making
violation records and including them in re-inspection programs. Some cases were
referred to the Public Prosecution.
20. NIHR appreciates the social security provided by the State in the event of
unemployment, which is ratified by the Constitution in Article No. 5, paragraph c,
which stipulates that: “The State guarantees the requisite social security for its
citizens in ... unemployment...”, and Decree-Law No. 78 of 2006 on Insurance against
Unemployment. While it is true that these measures promote solidarity and social
justice, NIHR believes that the provisions of the Law provide that the insurance
amount is disbursed for a temporary period, which means that the Law has created
a temporary solution for job seekers or unemployed workers. The Government
should make greater efforts in order to create rewarding job opportunities to address
unemployment. In addition, there is need to increase the planned duration of
disbursement provided for in the Law, in order to meet the requirements for adequate
standard of living and decent living.
21. Within the framework of NIHR mandate to receive complaints related to the right to
work in the private sector, NIHR received seven complaints. Three complaints were
related to dismissal from work, two of which resulted from the unrest events. Three
complaints were related to discrimination in the profession, two of which were due
to union activity, and the other one was due to gender discrimination. One complaint
was related to harassment as a result of medial retirement.
22. Upon receiving such complaints, NIHR considered and expressed its legal opinion
on them. In relation to complaints of dismissal from work, NIHR observed that one
of these complaints included 13 workers who have been dismissed in the sixties and
the eighties. This is difficult to be proved and verified, not to mention that there is
no legal ground on which the complaint was based. Following NIHR receipt of a
complaint about the dismissal of 53 workers because of security events, it addressed
and directly contacted the competent authority. The authority reported that a
number of the workers were returned to work and it is in the process of returning
the remaining dismissed workers, or regularizing their status. Subsequently, NIHR
contacted the complainant to find about the latest developments relating to the return
of the dismissed workers and the remaining numbers of the dismissed workers.
However, the National Institution was not provided with a response to date. As
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