Expat Protection Center
Description
The Kingdom of Bahrain’s attractive economy has resulted in an influx of migrant workers seeking job opportunities in the country. Bahrain’s dedication to the preservation and protection of the rights of all who work and live in the country led to the establishment of the Expat Protection Center. In line with its 2030 Vision to cull the crime of trafficking in persons, a cross-border crime, the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) has spearheaded the administration of the protective services offered to migrants in Bahrain based on the fact that all declared victims of trafficking have been migrant workers.
The Expat Protection Center (EPC) was set up to identify, support, and follow up the cases of victims of trafficking in the Kingdom of Bahrain. It is a collaborative framework through which stakeholders fulfill their obligations to protect, recover, and promote the human rights of the trafficked -or vulnerable- person in a timely manner coordinating all the efforts in a strategic national partnership (Target 17.8 and 17.9). Thus assisting in: the elimination of all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, which are affected by trafficking and sexual exploitation, amongst other types of exploitation (Target 5.2); The eradication of forced labour, ending modern slavery and human trafficking (Target 8.7), promotes peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, by providing through referrals, access to justice for all (Targets 10.7 and 16).
⁃ The National Referral Mechanism (NRM) team.
⁃ The Enforcement and Inspection Department.
⁃ The Grievances Department.
⁃ The National Institute of Human Rights.
⁃ The 995 Hotline - Call Centre.
⁃ The Shelter.
⁃ Embassies/Diplomatic missions.
⁃ International Organizations.
The collaboration between the relevant stakeholders is choreographed by the NRM ensures migrants receive the full extent of support and services according to the circumstances of their case.
The LMRA has dedicated itself to managing cases on an individual basis, believing that each case is unique.
Inaugurated in November 2015, the EPC serves as a one-stop-shop for vulnerable expats. All the relevant stakeholders involved in the protection of migrants are represented at the center.
After an initial interview with a member of the NRM team, the migrant is issued with a referral to the agency best equipped to handle the migrant’s case as per prescribed by the mechanism, those may be the LMRA inspectors, the NIHR or the grievances department.
However, when necessary, the NRM team oversees that the case goes through the necessary external authority for full assistance.
The NRM team will also conduct follow-ups with the migrant to ensure that the case has been resolved, and that they are no longer at any foreseeable risk of exploitation or abuse.
Sheltering services are facilitated by the NRM team to migrants who are in urgent need of protection.
The shelter at the EPC is Bahrain’s only fully equipped and licensed shelter especially geared for victims of trafficking in persons.
From the moment a victim or potential victim enters the shelter they are provided with full services, which include:
- Security.
- Medical services – this includes periodic check-ups with volunteers from numerous private hospitals.
- Legal Advice – providing legal advice to sheltered individuals, informing them of their rights, as well as aiding them in court proceedings, be they settlements, lawsuits, etc.
- Social services.
Accommodation at the shelter is completely voluntary, and refusal of shelter does not disqualify the migrant workers from receiving other protective services. The EPC also assists sheltered persons in their reintegration and through rehabilitation to transition victims to survivors in the form of voluntary return to the workforce, or voluntary repatriation back to the country of origin.
A UNODC Regional Training Center exists at the EPC to provide stakeholders with capacity building projects.
Coordination with embassies occurs at the EPC, and embassy social workers may access their nationals at the shelter at any time.
Launched in 2016, the NRM initiated as a paper-based screening system, evolving, in 2018, into an innovative digital tool designed to prevent human error, thus granting the victims further protection. The digitalization enhances speed, efficiency, consistency, and accuracy of following up the cases, mapping all procedures relevant to each case up until its conclusion. The system links those who initiated the referral to the NRM, to the bodies whom the NRM referred the case to, all achieved whilst systematically following the NRM Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), ensuring the relevant parties’ accountability, enforcing successful outcomes. Every case received by the EPC is logged onto the NRM system, which launched digitally as of November 1, 2018. The system provides means by which the status of cases can be monitored, and keeps track of each department or agency the migrant has been referred to over the case’s lifecycle.
Below are the LMRA’s achievements with regards to combating human trafficking:
• National Referral Mechanism
The NRM project has demonstrated to be an outstanding tool for combating trafficking in persons trafficking in persons. It obliges all cases to be followed through, leaving no space for human error, thus guaranteeing all complaints are addressed correctly, achieving optimum results. 9267 reports have been inputted to date, all following the NRM’s natural cycle, following all the relevant SOP’s.
The project assists the large migrant population residing in Bahrain, ensuring their protection and welfare. The project’s success has spread within the community, however, there have been a couple of cases where the claimants believe to deserve different outcomes and felt discouraged by the official output. The latter, however, certain to have been the correct procedure, as once the report goes into the system; it is obliged to go through the entire SOPs relevant to the case, guaranteeing mitigation of all negative impact.
• Standardised Tripartite Labour Contract System
The tripartite labour contract system is obligatory for all recruitment offices in Bahrain. It regulates the relationship between the recruiter, the employer, and domestic workers. It protects domestic workers against deception and false promises by putting the terms of their employment into writing.
• Flexible work permit
The LMRA was also responsible for the development and issuance of the Flexible Work Permit, or ‘Flexi’. The permit was the first of its kind in the entire Gulf Cooperation Council region – allowing migrant workers to become self-sponsored.
• Expat Protection Center
The EPC is also the headquarters of the NCCTIP. A ‘one stop shop’ that offers a variety of services to vulnerable migrants in accordance to the type of abuse they are faced with. Referrals are issued in accordance to the NRM.
• Regional UNODC Training & Building Capacity Center
To provide a sustainable environment where the relevant authorities can ongoing receive training so that anti-trafficking and protective actors in the Kingdom of Bahrain continue to provide the migrant worker community with optimal services.
- The Government of Bahrain’s continuous dedication to cull the crime of TIP in all its forms across the country and region.
- Continuous amendments and improvements added to the mechanism in response to changes in trafficking trends.
- Transparency and cooperation that drive stakeholders as a result of their shared mission to combat exploitation and trafficking in persons.
- Willingness of stakeholders to engage in capacity-building.
- The Kingdom of Bahrain’s inherent compassion for the wellbeing of all its residents.
Constraining Factors
- Language and cultural barriers stemming from migrant community of Bahrain, which is both vast and diverse.
- Communication limitations when attempting to reach those in the domestic sector.
- Victim identification frameworks often fail to identify potential victims at sending countries prior to individual’s arrival in Bahrain.
Due to the transparency of information between the stakeholders and the EPC staff’s ongoing direct communication with the relevant anti-trafficking authorities, there is a sustainable flow of information between the relevant actors in the Kingdom of Bahrain’s counter-trafficking framework.
The NRM is constituted by standard operating procedures which clearly outlines the roles and responsibilities to be undertaken by the relevant stakeholders until the case’s resolution.
As the government agency tasked with the regulation of the market and which primarily deals with the migrant worker community of Bahrain, the LMRA is at the forefront of providing protective services to migrants. Guided by the NRM, the EPC takes virtually any type of exploitation or abuse which migrants may experience and provides cases with a roadmap to follow until the issue is resolved by the relevant authority.<br />
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The country’s anti-trafficking mechanism not only seeks to identify, assist, and protect victims and potential victims of trafficking, but also extends these services to vulnerable migrant workers in Bahrain to allow them to work and live in with the dignity. <br />
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The LMRA has gone to great lengths to ensure that the main SDGs 2030 goals relevant to Combating Trafficking in Persons: 5 (Gender Equality); 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth); 10 (Reduced Inequalities); 16 (Peace Justice and Strong Institutions); and 17 (Partnerships to achieve the Goal), are met.
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- West Asia
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Faten Anwar, CE office