Draft law to regulate stay of bachelor expat workers
Manama : Lawmakers will vote this week on a draft law that regulates the stay of bachelor expat workers in residential areas.
According to the Services Committee in the House of Representative, the draft law would “limit the large numbers of bachelor foreign workers living in residential area”.
“This would also put an end to the repeated complaints of families about the practices of bachelor expats living in their areas. Some of these practices contradicts with the Bahraini customs and are considered immodest,” the committee said in a statement.
“The new law would improve the living situations of expat workers, as many of them live in dilapidated buildings in large numbers,” it added.
“Living in such dangerous buildings that lack the simplest safety and security conditions expose the workers to many threats,” the committee pointed out in its statement.
The committee also said that it had conducted several meetings with the concerned government authorities to discuss the matter. This includes Labour and Social Development Ministry, Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Ministry, Interior Ministry and Bahrain Chamber for Commerce and Industry.
The experts and officials in the government authorities requested the committee to amend some articles in the draft law, as some of it “contradict with the constitution of the Kingdom of Bahrain”.
The Labour and Social Development Ministry opposed the article of the law that stipulates allocating certain areas of residency for the category of foreign employment. The ministry also proposed to allocate specialised inspectors to periodically visit the residences and ensure its compatibility with the law.
The ministry also highlighted that allocating such areas would have a negative impact on the real estate business in the Kingdom, due to want of lands. It requested the committee to conduct more studies on the economic effects of the proposal.
Harder to control
The ministry also mentioned that limiting a big number of foreign workers, who may be of the same nationality, in certain areas may cause danger to security. “This may result in security issues such as forming gangs or networks that may be involved in illegal practices like prostitution. The ministry sees that more social studies should be conducted. Comparisons should also be made with similar experiments in other countries, such as the UAE. This may require providing more security services.”
Earlier, the committee rejected the draft law and suggested to construct residences especially for foreign bachelor workers in residential areas.
The draft law will be put to vote this Tuesday.
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