18/01/2021
“Prestigious” construction company in Bahrain leaves workers in despair | Migrant-Rights.org
Migrant-Rights.org reached out to the company on their registered email but received no response.
According to the workers, the company’s management has not been responsive and continuously
ignores their calls. Social workers on the ground told MR that the MoL is currently negotiating with the
company owner to ‘amicably’ resolve the issue. These drawn-out ‘negotiations take place without the
presence of workers at the table and o en result in no resolution or reprieve.
As a short-term solution, the Bahraini government should use the unemployment fund to pay for
stranded migrant worker’s wages and immediate needs, and reclaim that amount at a later point from
the employer. The fund established under the social insurance law has an annual surplus of BD 80
million (USD 212 million, according to Al-Ayam). Though the unemployment fund is rarely used for
migrant workers, migrants – who make up 80% of the private sector’s workforce – do pay into
Bahrain’s social security system, including unemployment insurance.
The Bahraini government must immediately put an end to the rampant problem of non-payment which
has been a ecting many workers over the past years, with the COVID-19 pandemic worsening the
situation. The government must be strict in regulating and enforcing labour laws and penalties for noncompliance, and hold employers accountable, including the owner of Fundament SPC.
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