Bahrain Employment and Career News
Residency cap for unskilled workers to be implemented next year
A residency cap for expatriates which limits the duration of stay of unskilled workers to five years, in any one Gulf State, may be implemented next year, it has been revealed.
Dr. Majeed Al Alawi, the Minister for Labour in Bahrain, said that the residency cap will be pushed to 2010, when the GCC summit will be held in Bahrain. It will then be approved and implemented straight away.
Dr. Alawi said that the proposals were designed to prevent the erosion of Arab culture and society and address the issue about expatriates seeking Gulf nationality.
The proposals are not applicable to skilled expatriates such as doctors, lawyers, teachers and journalists, the Minister said.
Alawi revealed that Bahrain will scrap its current sponsorship system for foreign workers, hoping to reduce its dependency on expatriate labour, being the first in the region, although the rights group has criticized the issue.
According to the new regulations, foreign workers will be directly sponsored by the LMRA (Labour Market Regulatory Authority) and hence will be able to swap jobs without having to gain consent of their ex-employer. The changes will be implemented from next month.
The previous system, commonly practiced in Gulf Arab states, wherein employers do the sponsoring, has been long criticized by human rights group for placing workers at the whim of their employers, who usually take their passports.
The total population in Bahrain grew to about 1.05million in 2007, out of which 500,000 are Bahraini citizens.
Posted on 10/7/2009
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