US embassy cable - 04MANAMA339

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 10 MANAMA 000339 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, PRM, IWI, NEA/ARP 
CAIRO FOR STEVE BONDY 
LONDON FOR ETHAN GOLDRICH 
DEPT PLEASE PASS TO USAID, DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, 
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, AND 
DEPARTMENT OF TREASURY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM, PHUM, KWMN, SMIG, KFRD, ASEC, PREF, ELAB, BA 
SUBJECT: ANNUAL ANTI-TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS (TIP) REPORT: 
BAHRAIN 
 
REF: SECSTATE 07869 
 
1. (SBU) Post submits this report having received GOB,s 
final report on anti-TIP activities for March 2003-2004.  The 
following is Post,s response to reftel questions. 
 
2. (U) Embassy Manama's input for the March 2004 Trafficking 
in Persons report follows.  Responses are keyed to reftel 
questions.  Post POC on trafficking is POLOFF Rebecca Fong, 
tel. (973) 1724-2834, fax: (973) 17273-011, E-mail: 
FongRA@state.gov. 
 
3. (SBU) TIP Report March 2003-March 2004 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
18.  Overview of Bahrain's Activities to Eliminate TIP: 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
A.  Bahrain is a destination country for TIP.  There are no 
official reports of trafficking within Bahrain's borders. 
There are no reliable estimates on the magnitude of the 
trafficking problem, but there are approximately 210,000 
expatriate workers in Bahrain (out of a total workforce of 
approximately 330,000).  At present, the most reliable 
sources of information are local embassies and the GOB, but 
none of these sources follows trafficking closely.  For this 
reporting period, 50 Filipino housemaids sought refuge at the 
Philippine Embassy from abusive employers.  The press 
reported 20 cases of housemaid abuse, which included 3 
suicides and the murder of an employer by her Ethiopian 
housemaid.  Local NGOs offer anecdotal reports of varying 
quality.  Even less reliable are reports from international 
NGOs (e.g. "The Protection Project"), none of which have 
representatives in Bahrain.  Those most at risk for 
trafficking include male laborers and female domestic 
workers.  Both men and women are subject to withholding of 
documents, alteration of contracts, and non-payment of 
salaries.  One local embassy official reported that 
alteration of contracts for laborers and domestics upon 
arrival in Bahrain is "routine" but his analysis seemed to be 
based more on anecdotes than on any systematic method of 
information collection.  Women, particularly those employed 
as domestics, are more susceptible to physical abuse, 
including instances of rape.  All sources Post contacted 
agreed that the sex industry in Bahrain is overwhelmingly 
voluntary.  Post has no information that children are at risk 
for trafficking to Bahrain. 
 
B.  Given the lack of reliable data, determining the source 
countries of trafficking victims is difficult.  However, 
given the large pools of workers from India, Pakistan, Sri 
Lanka, Bangladesh, and the Philippines, these are the most 
likely source countries.  Other Asian countries, such as 
China or Indonesia may also be involved.  Some victims may 
also come from the states of the former Soviet Union, 
Morocco, or Ethiopia. 
 
C.  The lack of reliable data makes it difficult to assess 
changes of the flow of trafficking to Bahrain.  There is some 
data on changes in the flow of workers in general, which may 
or may not be representative of changes in the flow of 
trafficking victims. There is no available information that 
indicates that anything has changed since 2002.  In terms of 
numbers, however, the volume of laborers and domestic workers 
from South and Southeast Asia is far greater than workers 
from China and the former Soviet Union. 
 
D.  Pending official notification of funding approval, IOM 
plans to conduct the first professional survey on trafficking 
as part of a project that will also train GOB officials and 
local NGOs to combat trafficking. 
 
E.  The majority of low and unskilled expatriate workers 
coming to Bahrain are subject to withholding of documents 
(especially passports) by their sponsors.  Holding passports 
is against the law; however it has become customary practice 
to do so.  Bahraini sponsorship agreements require that 
sponsors take full responsibility for their imported workers, 
including medical care and a return ticket to their home 
country.  In the case of domestic workers, a sponsor may not 
import a second person until he can prove that the first one 
has left Bahrain.  Consequently, sponsors feel compelled to 
have control over worker movements, particularly of their 
domestic workers.  Fearing the consequences of runaway, 
injured, or pregnant housemaids, sponsors in some instances 
refuse unaccompanied excursions from the household or 
compound.  Another widespread abuse is the demand by sponsors 
for money before returning passports for travel or other 
purposes. 
 
The two sectors most vulnerable to trafficking are 
construction and domestic work.  Up to half of low and 
unskilled expatriate workers coming as construction or other 
laborers are subject to contract substitution.  One embassy 
described this practice as "routine," but it is not clear 
that this embassy had collected the information necessary to 
reach such a categorical conclusion.  Workers that have 
agreed to certain contract terms before leaving their home 
country find that they are presented with different contract 
conditions upon arrival.  Promised salaries of 140 BD (USD 
370) per month often become 70-80 BD (USD 185-212). 
Sometimes promised housing is not provided, or the housing 
provided is unsanitary.  In most cases, workers have little 
choice but to accept the new contract/conditions as they have 
debts to repay, both to recruiting agents and for 
transportation to Bahrain.  For construction workers, these 
costs can be USD 1200 or more.  Contract substitution is 
often due to the duplicity of recruiting agents in the home 
country.  These unscrupulous recruiting agents promise a 
worker that he or she will receive a particular contract when 
they know that the terms of this contract will be changed 
once the worker enters Bahrain. Nevertheless, Bahraini 
sponsors are also known to make changes to promised salaries 
claiming that workers have misrepresented their 
qualifications.  Post has no hard evidence to assess which of 
these scenarios happens more frequently.  Two housemaids 
alleged to the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights Migrant 
Workers Group (MWG) that two recruitment agencies make it a 
practice to rape incoming housemaids to  break them in, for 
employers. The MWG forwarded this information to the GOB in 
October 2003 and requested that the agencies be shut down. 
The Government has not yet responded to Post,s follow-up on 
the closure of the two agencies. 
 
Victims can take their case to Bahrain Labor Court but the 
process can be very long (from months to years) and most 
victims need their salary to survive and/or support relatives 
in their home countries.  The MWG is tracking over 200 free 
visa cases, some of which have languished in the courts for 
more than 2 years.  The lawyer representing these foreign 
workers refused to provide us details of these cases, citing 
attorney-client privilege. Often complainants withdraw their 
cases because they cannot continue to rely on the generosity 
of charitable NGOs or the MWG to share their personal homes 
for months at a time. 
 
J.    Expatriate workers have successfully sued Bahraini 
sponsors in the Labor Court.  The GOB provided Post with 
2000-2002 data on foreign worker complaints that were 
forwarded to Labor courts for resolution.  However, the 
Government did not provide any data on prosecutions. 
 
The situation of domestic workers differs from other laborers 
as they are usually placed without a formal contract.  They 
are often promised salaries of 50-60 BD per month or higher 
(USD 130-160) but receive only 40 BD (USD 106).  This salary 
varies, however, depending on the country of origin of the 
housemaid:  Filipinas are among the best paid (up to 70 
BD/month).  Indonesians and Sri Lankans, who lack diplomatic 
representation in Bahrain are among the lowest (40 BD).  At 
these salaries, full room and board are normally provided. 
Complaints include partial or non-payment of salaries, 
extreme hours, lack of freedom to leave the house, verbal or 
physical abuse, and in some cases, rape. 
 
The Philippine Embassy has the most active worker protection 
program in the Kingdom.  The Embassy provides help for 
workers to find new employment, assistance to resolve 
disputes, and a shelter for abused housemaids.   Most 
complaints involve delayed or partial payment of salary or 
verbal harrassment.  Workers from the Philippines who go 
through reputable recruiting agents use contracts approved by 
both the Philippine Ministry of Labor Overseas Labor Office 
(POLO) and the Foreign Ministry, which works with its embassy 
in Bahrain to determine fair wages and working conditions. 
POLO also provides health care and registers workers to vote 
in the Philippine National elections.  Workers who go through 
these legal channels and have embassy representation 
generally face fewer problems.  The demand for Filipina 
housemaids is such, however, that the Philippines Embassy 
estimates that 4000 to 5000 may be in Bahrain without going 
through these channels, which makes them more vulnerable to 
abuse. 
 
Although Bahraini labor law does not cover domestic workers, 
they can approach the Ministry of Labor's Complaint 
Department for help in resolving most disputes, and they can 
seek legal redress from forced labor under the penal code. 
Some local embassies report that government officials are 
fair in resolving disputes, but many workers do not know 
about the complaint department service, and implementation of 
its decisions can be difficult.  Due to a general lack of 
awareness of workers' rights, employers can easily make 
inordinate demands of their employees.  The Bangladeshi 
Embassy told us it receives few complaints from workers (only 
one or two every two or three months) because:  a) the men 
fear that their sponsors will file false reports about them 
of theft or negligence of duty, and b) the women do not know 
their rights and it is not in their nature to complain. 
 
Numerous sources report that the sex industry in Bahrain is 
almost wholly voluntary.  When prodded on the question of 
forced or coerced prostitution, most embassies denied that 
any of their nationals were involved.  Last year, one embassy 
said that at least 8 out of 10 of the women from his country 
who come to Bahrain to work as prostitutes did so with full 
knowledge of what was expected of them.  (NOTE:  This 
estimate appeared to be more of a hunch than a research-based 
analysis.)  Women who come to perform in bands and dance 
groups (often from Belarus, Moldova, and the Ukraine) usually 
do just that, and do so in costumes that are far less 
revealing than one finds in an average music video.  Some may 
choose to offer sexual services, but only at their own 
discretion.  Physical contact between performers and audience 
members is strictly forbidden.  Violations of these rules led 
to the closure of 17 entertainment outlets this reporting 
period. 
 
Last year,s TIP report mentioned that Russian women have a 
more difficult time obtaining visas to come to Bahrain.  For 
example, an Embassy officer observed that approximately 170 
Russian and Slavic women entered on ,visit visas, to 
Bahrain on November 26, 2003.  These women were accompanied 
by 7-10 transaction agents.  The agents have agreements with 
Arab agents and some hotels to house the women.  Some have 
reported that they are locked in their rooms for night work 
but are free to go to the shopping malls and walk the 
corniche (boardwalk) during the day.  Two sources on a Hong 
Kong to Bahrain flight noted that in February 2004, 
approximately 60 Chinese women arrived in Bahrain to  work, 
through the Formula One event. 
 
F.  N/A--Bahrain is a destination country. 
 
G.  There is political will at the highest levels to combat 
trafficking.  However, it is difficult to measure the amount 
of resources the GOB is devoting to combating TIP.  In 
December 2003 the National Assembly approved the UN 
Convention on Transnational Crime and the optional protocols 
on the rights of the child and trafficking.  On March 10, the 
MFA officially notified the Embassy of Bahrain,s accession 
to this Convention.  The GOB established an inter-ministerial 
task force to design a national plan to combat TIP.  The 
committee is chaired by Shaikh Abdul Aziz bin Mubarak 
Al-Khalifa, an Assistant Undersecretary in the Foreign 
Ministry and brother of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign 
Minister Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al-Khalifa.  According 
to Shaikh Abdul Aziz, the Bahraini Embassy in Washington has 
also assigned a diplomat to liaise with the State Department 
and Congress on TIP matters; we will update the Department 
when we learn this person's name. 
 
We do not believe that high-level GOB officials are involved 
in TIP and we have no information alleging that that they 
are.  However, the practice of "sponsoring" workers--and 
receiving a substantial fee (up to USD 1200) from the 
sponsored worker without providing them a job--occurs 
frequently here.  This practice is illegal, but some 
Bahrainis from influential families may be involved in this 
practice of providing "free visas." 
 
A hotline was established in February 2003 for people to 
provide information on "free visa" workers (there may be 
40,000 to 50,000 of them in Bahrain), but it has not yet been 
used as a tool to identify sponsors. 
 
H.  We have no reason to believe that GOB authorities condone 
or facilitate trafficking.  Customs officials act 
professionally and we have no reports of their accepting 
bribes.  Post has uncovered no information about bribes paid 
to government officials to facilitate the trafficking of 
individuals to Bahrain. 
 
I.    The police in Bahrain are adequately funded. 
Corruption in government is not an overall problem.  Bahrain 
is not a low per-capita income country.  One limiting factor 
has been a lack of Labor Ministry inspectors.  Last year the 
number of inspectors was increased from 9 to 40.  The 
Minister of Labor told the Ambassador that the ministry plans 
to add 30 more inspectors.  There are more than 20 inspectors 
for entertainment outlets (the responsibility for this falls 
under the Information Ministry's Tourism Affairs Office and 
includes hotels, restaurants, and clubs), and at least one 
inspector visits each of the 91 licensed entertainment 
outlets daily.  MOLSA is seeking the authority for its 
nspectors to have arrest power.  Labor inspections occur 1) 
randomly, 2) upon application for a work permit; (3) after an 
employee complaint; (4) by request of an employer and (5) to 
follow up on a previous site visit. 
 
J.    The GOB does not systematically monitor its 
anti-trafficking efforts or make available its assessments of 
these efforts.  The inter-ministerial committee meets 
periodically to discuss various government anti-TIP efforts. 
 
K.  Prostitution is illegal and the activities of brothels 
and pimps are criminalized.  Enforcement, however, is 
variable. 
 
--------------- 
19. Prevention 
--------------- 
 
A.  Yes.  Bahraini government officials have acknowledged 
that trafficking in persons is an international problem that 
all countries must address and that must be better understood 
locally. 
B.  The inter-ministerial task force consists of 
representatives from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Labor 
and Social Affairs, Information, Justice, Interior, and 
Cabinet Affairs. 
 
C.  A media campaign previously slated for March 2003 was 
launched December 9, 2003.  The English-speaking press 
continues to highlight the conditions faced by some 
expatriate workers and featured 20 cases of housemaid abuse. 
The Government censors some news that embarrasses the 
country.  Its allowing publication of worker abuse stories 
indicates that the GOB is serious about stopping trafficking. 
 This does not appear to be a concerted media effort. 
 
The GOB has published a manual on the rights and duties of 
expatriate workers in Bahrain that has not yet been given to 
local embassies, Bahraini embassies abroad, and manpower 
recruitment agencies that do business in Bahrain.  In 
addition, the GOB has published a simpler brochure that is 
intended for distribution directly to expatriate workers.  It 
is translated into six languages; Urdu, Thai, Singhalese, 
Arabic, English, and Tagalog.  In 2004, there are plans to 
translate the brochure into Bengali. 
 
D.  The Bahraini Government promotes women's participation in 
economic and political decision-making and continues to make 
good strides.  Women voted for the first time in a referendum 
in February 2001.  Bahrain's new constitution guarantees 
women full political rights. Young girls and women make up 70 
percent and higher of enrollment in educational institutions. 
 
E.  The GOB has expressed its willingness to work with the 
IOM in conjunction with a Department-funded project (pending 
official funding notification).  At present, it lacks the 
expertise to support an effective prevention campaign. 
 
F.  The MFA has met with the Bahrain Centre for Human 
Rights, Migrant Workers Group three times in the past 7 
months.  In January 2004, Salma Bala of the Migrant Workers 
Group submitted a list of 200 labor cases that are stuck in 
the courts.  In February 2004, Shaikh Abdul Aziz reviewed 
them on behalf of the inter-ministerial committee and met 
with the Chief Prosecutor to push 50 of the critical cases to 
resolution and to halt forced repatriation.  Post continues 
to encourage a more institutionalized arrangement and has 
contacted several embassies to probe their interest. 
 
G.  The GOB monitors its borders and immigration effectively. 
 Border officials are competent at recognizing forged 
documents, but are not specifically trained to recognize TIP. 
 Post has no information that any immigration official 
attempts to track information related to TIP. 
 
H.  The GOB established an inter-ministerial national 
taskforce in February 2002 that met periodically this year. 
It is the focal point for the GOB's anti-TIP policies.  The 
GOB does not have a public corruption task force, but, the 
elected Council of Representatives does have an Investigative 
Committee.  That Committee, for example, has highlighted 
serious financial mismanagement of the Government,s pension 
funds, and may pursue removal of the ministers responsible 
for the funds, mismanagement. 
 
I.  At present, the GOB does not coordinate its anti-TIP 
efforts with multinational or international working groups. 
However, the GOB has agreed to work with the IOM if the 
Department decides to fund IOM,s project proposal. 
 
J.    The GOB has a national plan of action.  The Ministries 
of Foreign Affairs, Labor, Information, Justice, and Interior 
were involved in drafting this plan.  NGOs were not consulted 
during the drafting of this plan.  Parts of the action plan 
were not made public.  On December 9, Shaikh Abdul Aziz held 
a press conference to underscore that the GOB is working to 
prevent abuse of migrant workers.  He announced that the GOB 
will focus on educating families with a media campaign 
launched by each directorate, that MOLSA will take a more 
active role with overseeing inspections and investigations, 
and target date for the first GOB victim assistance shelter 
is March 30.  Reported in the press on February 24, the 
Chairman of Municipality Affairs Committee has agreed to have 
the Sitra market organization (Corners Committee) help empty 
the souq of &free visa8 workers. 
 
K.  Yes, the inter-ministerial task force. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
20.  Investigation and Prosecution of Traffickers 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
A.  The Bahraini penal code does not specifically criminalize 
trafficking in persons.  However, it does explicitly outlaw 
forced labor (including unjustifiable withholding of salary) 
for the government (Article 198) or for any other kind of 
work (Article 302 amended).  Forced prostitution through 
coercion, threat or deceit (Article 325) is also outlawed. 
While these articles provide significant protection for 
victims of trafficking, it remains a lengthy process to 
achieve redress of grievances in the current court system. 
The Head of Legal Affairs at the Ministry of Labor warned us 
that the available English translation of the Penal Code is 
not as clear as the original Arabic. 
 
Article 198:  "A punishment of imprisonment for a period not 
exceeding 10 years shall be inflicted upon every civil 
servant or officer entrusted with a public service who 
employs, by forced labor, workers to work for the Government 
or one of the authorities mentioned in Article 107 hereof 
(defines civil servant) or unjustifiably withhold all or some 
of their wages." 
 
Article 302 amended by Legislative Decree No. 6 of 1993: 
"Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 198, a 
punishment of imprisonment and a fine, or either penalty, 
shall be inflicted upon every person who employs forced labor 
to undertake any work or unjustifiably withholds all or some 
of their wages." 
 
Law on Immorality and Prostitution (Chapter 3, Bahraini Penal 
Code 1976): 
 
Article 325:  "1.  Every person who forces a male or female 
to commit acts of immorality or prostitution by way of 
coercion, threat or deceit shall be liable for imprisonment 
for a period of no less than 2 years and no more than 7 
years.  2.  If the victim is less than 18 years of age, the 
punishment shall be a prison sentence for a period not less 
than 3 years and no more than 10 years." 
 
B.  See 18A 
 
C.  Law on Rape and Sexual Assault (Chapter 2, Bahraini Penal 
Code 1976): 
 
Article 344:  "Any person who assaults a female shall be 
liable for a prison sentence for a period not exceeding 10 
years.  A prison sentence shall be the penalty if the victim 
is less than 16 years of age." 
 
Article 346:  "A prison sentence for a period not exceeding 7 
years shall be the punishment for any person who assaults a 
person against his will.  The punishment shall be a prison 
sentence if the victim is less than 7 years of age.  The 
penalty shall be imprisonment for a term of no more than 10 
years if the victim is more than 7 years of age but has not 
reached the age of sixteen." 
 
Article 348:  "The following shall be aggravating 
circumstances in the crimes provided for in the preceding 
articles of this chapter:  1.  If the perpetrator is one of 
the victim's close relatives or those responsible for 
bringing him/her up, guardianship or having authority over 
him, or one of his servants or working with one of the 
aforesaid persons.  2.  If the perpetrator is one of the 
public servants or officers entrusted with a public service, 
clergymen, medical practitioners or their assistants and has 
abused his office, position or trust in him.  3.  If the 
crime is jointly committed by two persons or more who 
cooperated in overpowering the victim or took turns in 
committing the same act against the victim.  4.  If the 
victim sustains a venereal disease as a result of committing 
the crime.  5.  If the victim becomes pregnant or suffers 
loss of virginity by reason of the crime." 
 
D.    Post has received contradictory information on this 
subject.  Because "trafficking" is not a legal concept under 
Bahraini law, no one has been prosecuted or convicted 
specifically for trafficking.  The subject of prostitution is 
a very sensitive issue in this conservative society and most 
of our Bahraini interlocutors are not keen to discuss it. 
The other legal cases we are aware of are civil cases in 
Labor court and involve disputes over non-payment of salary. 
In 2003 MOLSA reported that there were 84 domestic worker 
complaints, 46 of which were settled and 38 of which went to 
court.  Most cases involved nonpayment of salary.  MOLSA can 
remove a domestic worker from the place of employment and 
repatriate the employee at the employer,s expense.  There is 
one alleged case of forced repatriation by the GOB.  Attorney 
Fatima Hawaj reported to the press on February 13 that the 
General Directorate of Immigration, Passports and Residency 
repatriated her client, a Bangladeshi worker involved in a 
labor dispute case, against her client,s will and without 
her knowledge.  The labor courts had no option but to drop 
the case.  In February, Shaikh Abdul Aziz halted forced 
repatriation of 50 Indian workers who were in the middle of 
having their free visa cases decided by the Labor courts. 
These cases were brought to his attention by BCHR,s Migrant 
Worker,s Group. 
 
E.  Those implicated in trafficking to Bahrain are manpower 
recruitment agencies, local and in source countries, as well 
as individual Bahraini sponsors who change labor contracts 
upon a worker's arrival.  The GOB has established a database 
of complaints and actions taken regarding individual cases. 
This year, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs tracked 
140 recruitment agencies and sixty three (63) have been shut 
down for malpractice.  In December 2003, the Ministry of 
Information Tourism Inspectorate shut down 10 tourism 
agencies for violating laws which promote clean tourism. 
 
F.  The GOB investigates abuses when it learns of them, but 
the Government does not systematically investigate cases of 
trafficking and probably lacks the expertise to do so 
effectively.  Bahraini law allows for covert police 
operations, but these techniques are not used to investigate 
trafficking. 
 
G.  The GOB does not provide any specialized training for 
government officials to recognize, investigate, and prosecute 
trafficking, and it currently lacks the expertise to do so. 
However, we are awaiting formal funding notification from the 
Department on an IOM project that will begin training GOB 
officials to pursue trafficking cases. 
 
H.    Post does not know of any cooperative international 
investigations on trafficking involving Bahrain.  However, 
local embassies report that the GOB government generally 
cooperates in investigating reported abuses of workers when 
the embassies raise specific complaints with GOB officials. 
In January 2004, the Philippine mission brought to the 
attention of the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs 37 
worker abuse cases that have languished in the labor courts 
for at least two years.  Several cases are ongoing even 
though the complainants have attended over 10 hearings on 
their cases.  One case dates back six years concerning a 
housemaid claiming unpaid salary.  She abandoned her legal 
case and returned to the Philippines in December 2003. 
 
I.  Post has no knowledge of any extradition requests 
involving trafficking in Bahrain.   The Kingdom of Bahrain is 
a party to a number of bilateral extradition treaties and 
some multinational arrangements, including the Agreement to 
Combat Trans-Arab Organized Crime and the Arab Agreement to 
Combat Terrorism.  The US and Bahrain do not have a bilateral 
extradition treaty. 
 
J.  As mentioned in section 23H, government officials 
do not directly condone or facilitate trafficking. However, 
the government does tolerate the sale of "free visas" by 
certain prominent individuals.  These individuals import 
numerous laborers without verifiable employment.  Upon 
arrival, these workers (who often mortgage their belongings 
to pay up to USD 1200 or more for sponsorship and travel fees 
to get to Bahrain) are told to find work elsewhere. In many 
cases, the sponsors require monthly or annual fees for 
workers to maintain their right to remain in-country.  There 
may be approximately 40-50,000 of these "free visa workers" 
in Bahrain.  As they are not working for their original 
sponsor, their status is illegal and their rights precarious. 
 Many such workers must take whatever work they can find.  On 
December 3, the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs 
announced to the press that MOLSA will be clamping down on 
free visas and runaway workers.  There are no 2003 statistics 
available of arrests or prosecution of free visas sponsors. 
Reported in the press on February 24, the Chairman of the 
Municipality Affairs Committee has agreed to have the Sitra 
market organization (Corners Committee) help empty the souq 
of &free visa8 workers. 
 
K.  No GOB officials have been prosecuted for involvement in 
offenses related to trafficking.  Sponsorship rules were 
reformed in the summer of 2002 to allow workers to change 
sponsors/jobs without a "no objection" letter from their 
current sponsor.  Theoretically, this allows workers to 
remove themselves legally from potentially abusive 
situations.  However, there are some conditions attached 
(e.g., the new employer must reimburse the original sponsor 
for any expenses involving the worker's entry into Bahrain), 
and it is not clear that many unskilled workers with little 
education are aware of this rule change to take advantage of 
it. 
 
The GOB established a telephone hotline to collect 
information on "free visa" workers, all of whom are, by 
definition, working in Bahrain illegally.  It is not yet 
clear if this information will be used to target sponsors for 
prosecution, or workers for deportation.   The GOB 
established a telephone hotline (17870176) for anyone to 
reoprt worker abuse.  The GOB announced that it would staff 
this hotline 24 hours per day, seven days per week.  The 
Embassy tested this hotline on 21 occasions.  The phone was 
answered twice.  Those who answered the phone did not appear 
to be knowledgeable about or trained in victim abuse 
referral.  Post notes that MOLSA initially published an 
incorrect phone number for the hotline in the newspaper.  The 
error has been corrected.  On December 7, 2003, the GOB 
announced plans to upgrade the current hotline to record all 
calls.  BCHR reported that MOLSA has assigned a new employee, 
Nabila Rajab (sister of BCHR,s President) to run the 
hotline.  She reported that her staff is in dire need of 
training.  There are no statistics available on the number of 
calls or referrals. 
 
L.  ILO Convention 182:  signed and ratified, Feb. 2001 
 
ILO Convention 29 and 105:  signed and ratified. 
 
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the 
Child:  signed and ratified. 
In December 2003, the Parliament approved the UN Convention 
against Transnational Organized Crime and two protocols to 
prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons, 
especially women and children and smuggling of migrants by 
land, sea and air.  Shaikh Abdul Aziz notified the Embassy of 
Bahrain,s accession to this Convention. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
21.  Protection and Assistance to Victims 
------------------------------------------ 
 
A.  The government does not regularly provide assistance to 
trafficking victims such as shelter and medical or 
psychological services, but may provide temporary shelter 
and/or medical services in extreme cases.  Generally, such 
services are up to the victim's local embassy or NGOs.  One 
embassy has a facility for women, and local NGOs help some 
people on an ad hoc basis.  Should these options not be 
available, the police are allowed to temporarily house 
victims at police stations while a case is being 
investigated.  Police are not supposed to return victims to 
their sponsors if they believe the victims will be harmed; 
Post does not know if this prescription is generally 
followed.  There is no established system for providing legal 
or psychological services, but emergency medical treatment is 
available to anyone in Bahrain.  There are no established 
victim care facilities.  The GOB issued a public statement in 
December that a victim assistance shelter would be completed 
by March 31.  At the time of this report, no shelter had been 
erected.  On December 10, BCHR advertised in the press its 
plans to establish a victim assistance shelter and opened a 
bank account to receive donations.  On March 5, BCHR held a 5 
kilometer charity run to raise money for its shelter. 
 
The government does provide mediation services at the 
Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.  The Ministry's 
complaint department has a staff of 10 people with the sole 
duty to achieve amicable settlements of disputes between 
sponsors and employees.  The government often allows 
temporary residency during disputes (relief from deportation) 
and tolerates work for non-sponsors while a worker seeks 
settlement or legal redress. 
 
B.  The GOB does not provide funding or other support to 
foreign or domestic NGOs for services to victims.  However, 
Post introduced two local human rights NGOs to the MFA and we 
have heard through multiple channels that they continue to 
meet and are looking for areas of potential cooperation on 
matters involving expatriate workers in Bahrain. 
 
C.  Cases where workers have been detained, jailed, or fined 
for criminal offenses are relatively few.  In 2003, the press 
cited one case of an abused Ethiopian housemaid that murdered 
her employer.  She was found guilty and her death sentence 
was commuted to life in prison.  According to the Ministry of 
Labor's Legal Advisor, prison sentences are meted out only 
where criminality accompanies a labor dispute, such as murder 
or theft.  Workers not working for their sponsor are subject 
to deportation.  Free visa violators are held at the 
Immigration Residence while being processed for deportation. 
D.  In cases where mediation by the Ministry of Labor's 
complaint department does not succeed in resolving disputes, 
government officials encourage workers to pursue legal 
action.  The Ministry's Legal Advisor tells us that the 
ministry's mediators facilitate contact with lawyers.  The 
government often tolerates work for non-sponsors during legal 
disputes and allows/facilitates change of sponsors under 
situations of duress.  In 2002, the government introduced new 
rules that increase the flexibility of a rigid sponsorship 
law that in the past made the task of changing one's 
job/sponsor very difficult.  However, the requirements for 
utilizing these new rules and changing one's job legally are 
not well understood, especially by poorly educated laborers 
and domestic workers.  Sponsors are required to pay for 
repatriation of workers, regardless of whether or not the 
full contract has been fulfilled.  In cases where they 
refuse, the cost often falls to local embassies. 
 
E.  Protection of victims normally falls to their local 
embassy, but GOB officials have told us that a victim in 
imminent physical danger would be protected and sheltered by 
the police.  Due to the lack of known examples, it is not 
possible to determine the GOB's actual practice. 
 
F.  The GOB does not provide any specialized training for 
government officials in recognizing trafficking and assisting 
the needs of victims.  However, the IOM project-- --will 
assist the GOB in providing this sort of training.  The 
manual and pamphlet explaining workers' rights and 
obligations will also help educate Bahrainis on matters 
relating to trafficking. 
 
G.  N/A.  Post has no information that suggests that Bahraini 
nationals are victims of trafficking. 
 
H. Local embassies are the biggest source of assistance to 
trafficking victims.  The Philippine Embassy has the most 
developed assistance program, including an on-site shelter 
for workers who run away from their sponsors/employers.  The 
Philippine Overseas Workers Welfare Administration provides 
legal assistance, loans, health insurance, voting 
registration assistance, counseling, repatriation and 
reintegration services.  Other embassies also provide 
services, but on a more ad hoc basis.  In severe cases of 
abuse or destitution, they seek placement of victims within 
their local national community until repatriation can be 
arranged. On February 17, the Indian Embassy announced that 
it will start registering Indian guest workers in an effort 
to help workers in distress and to reach out to Indian free 
visa workers. 
 
I.  The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, Migrant Worker's 
Group seeks to address the issue of trafficking and working 
conditions for expatriates.  Several staff members have told 
Post of their experiences in sheltering victims on an ad hoc 
basis.  Post introduced several members to the GOB's 
anti-trafficking task force, and they have met three times 
since then to look for ways to cooperate.  Shaikh Abdul Aziz 
has continued to meet with individual ministries and NGOs. 
The IOM project will seek to increase the capacity of local 
NGOs to assist victims.  The Bahrain Human Rights Society has 
members who are interested in the issue, but Post has no 
information on any related activities that this organization 
engages in.  The Indian Charitable Relief Committee (ICRC) 
visits a different "work camp" every month, providing medical 
check-ups and food to laborers working there. Helping Hands 
Charity provides temporary food and shelter to abused 
workers. 
FORD