International Organization for Migration (Bahrain)

Bahrain, together with other Gulf Countries, has a history of intra-regional overseas contract workers. These dynamics between the labour-sending and the GCC labour-receiving states continue to yield important economic benefits for involved parts including, of course, overseas contract workers. According to Bahraini government estimates, overseas workers comprise 63 per cent of the country’s work force. The promise of economic and social prosperity and employment in Bahrain is often used as a lure by traffickers to bring in workers from India, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. These workers find themselves in situations of abuse and exploitation. The government of Bahrain is aware of the complexity of the problem and it is deploying intense efforts to tackle it at different levels, including the launching of a National Plan of Action since 2002 to counter trafficking and prevent abuse of overseas workers, as well as the recent opening of a “Safe House” or shelter for abused overseas workers and victims of trafficking.