Bahrain - UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking Visit to Bahrain

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Website for Mandate of UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking:
http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/trafficking/index.htm

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http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/58FAF1D58BE8FAAFC125721900
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     UNITED NATIONS

      Press Release

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      xxxxxxxxxx EXPERT ON TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS
      ENDS VISIT TO BAHRAIN
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      1 November 2006
      Sigma Huda, Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Commission on
Human Rights on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, made
the following statement to media today at the end of her visit to Bahrain:
      Permit me first of all to thank the Government for inviting me to
Bahrain. I would also like to commend the Government for the openness and
cooperation it has demonstrated in the course of my 4-days fact-finding
mission to Bahrain. I have been granted access to all state facilities I had
requested to visit, including a labour camp and a processing centre. In
addition, I had the chance to consult with senior government officials,
members of the judiciary, senior diplomats, United Nations officials as well
as representatives of non-governmental organisations, civil society and
victims themselves. I would like to thank everybody for taking the time to
meet with me and discuss frankly the human trafficking situation in Bahrain.
      In simplifying an internationally accepted definition of human
trafficking, one can say that a person is trafficked if he, or more
typically, she is brought into a situation of economic or sexual
exploitation – including prostitution – by force, coercion, abduction, fraud
or deception. I would like to clarify that a person can be trafficked across
an international border even if he or she holds a valid visa. There can also
be human trafficking within one and the same country. My mandate as Special
Rapporteur aims to protect the human rights of trafficked persons, while
preventing other human beings from falling victims to a crime that is
unfortunately prevalent in Bahrain. The issue of demand for all forms of
exploitation and the push- and pull-factors relating to exploitation are
also concerns covered by my mandate.
      I am pleased to note that the Government has recognized human
trafficking as a problem and has been taking measures to address it. The
Government has drafted an anti-trafficking Bill which appears to be
comprehensive and is due to be enacted shortly after the new Parliament
takes office. I hope that the Government will promptly take steps to bring
the other related laws into conformity with the proposed law to ensure lack
of ambiguity in the legislative framework. I also welcome the labour reform
that the Government has prepared and that is aimed at strengthening the
protection of migrant workers.
      Yet much remains to be done for the Government to implement Bahrain's
international obligations related to human trafficking. In the course of my
mission, I have found that a significant number of human beings, including
women, are trafficked into Bahrain. Unfortunately, their plight seems to
remain unknown to significant parts of Bahraini society, perhaps because the
victims tend to be foreign nationals or are considered to be of low social
status. Bahrain's victims of trafficking are often invisible victims because
they suffer in places that remain hidden to the public eye, such as private
homes, hotel rooms or labour camps. Many of my interlocutors, including
senior government officials, also acknowledged that widely held attitudes of
discrimination on the basis of race, colour, ethnicity, and gender
contribute to the prevalence of human trafficking.
      I am particularly concerned that a significant number among the
approximately 300,000 migrant workers in Bahrain become victims of human
trafficking. Approximately 50,000 of these are female domestic migrant
workers. People from Asia or Africa travel to a foreign country and culture
in order to make a living for themselves and earn money to send to the
families and loved ones they leave thousands of kilometres behind. The basic
human rights of these migrant workers remain inadequately protected as there
are still gaps in the enforcement of the relevant laws by the authorities of
Bahrain. In particular I found that female domestic migrant workers are the
most disadvantaged, in that they remain excluded from the protection of the
current labour legislation. Instead, it is largely left up to the
benevolence and human compassion of the employers, whether the human rights
of the workers are upheld or not. For this reason, I have been very
encouraged to hear from the Ministry of Labour that it intends to present
legislation on domestic migrant workers within one month from now. I am
hopeful that this will also be of great help in preventing further
trafficking and exploitation.
      Many families – a majority I would hope – respect the dignity and
human rights of their domestic workers. Some even come to treat their
domestic migrant workers like members of their own families. However, other
domestic workers are less fortunate and are subject to degrading conditions.
These migrants are often lured in their country of origin by unscrupulous
recruiting agents with false promises of a certain job or certain working
conditions. More often than not they are shocked to find themselves in
exploitative situations upon arrival in Bahrain. Fourteen to 16 hour working
days - seven days a week, and the withholding or delay of wages are not
uncommon. Some employers also confine domestic migrant workers in the house,
confiscating their passports and depriving them of access to basic means of
communication such as the telephone or mail. Physical abuse is also a
problem. Some victims told me of incidents of severe and traumatic abuse
including mental and verbal abuse. Others complained of insufficient or no
meals being allowed resulting in stealing food from the employers or eating
the left-over scraps.
      Access to justice for domestic and other migrant workers with
complaints of abuse and maltreatment is still lacking as legal proceedings
are extraordinarily lengthy, often have limited access to counsel and
interpretation.
      Applicable international standards oblige Bahrain to identify and
treat victims of human trafficking as victims. However, domestic workers who
flee situations of exploitation and abuse are frequently re-victimized.
Their cases often fail to be investigated with due diligence by the
authorities and the victims are considered to be irregular migrants whose
visas lapsed once they fled from exploitative or abusive employers. In many
cases these victims end up in a detention centre before being deported,
while the perpetrators enjoy impunity.
      As a positive development, I would like to mention the creation of a
safe house which will accommodate victims of abuse and exploitation
including domestic migrant workers. In view of the magnitude of the problem
the Government needs to assure that more such safe houses are created. With
regard to the protection of foreign migrant workers including trafficked
persons, I would like to call upon the consulates of sending countries to
follow the positive example of countries such as the Philippines and protect
the human rights of their nationals through comprehensive protection
programmes.
      Similar conditions prevail for the entertainers who are mostly from
Thailand, Syria, Lebanon, Morocco, Moldova, Belarus, Ukraine and Uzbekistan
to name a few. I received reports during the mission that there are cases of
artists from Thailand who, after receiving a visa upon entry, end up in
prostitution. I am concerned that some of these "artists" may be deceived
prior to their departure for Bahrain about the type or conditions of the
activity they eventually have to engage in. The vulnerability is exacerbated
by the fact that the Bahraini Penal Code criminalizes prostitution. A woman
engaging in acts of prostitution may be subject to prosecution, detention
and deportation. At the same time, the persons who are entertained as
customers are not punished. This double standard increases the vulnerability
of women who were forced into prostitution since they face the risk of
criminal proceedings, while their traffickers can cloak themselves into a
suit of legality.
      Finally, I would like to express specific concern about girls who are
recruited as domestic migrant workers even though they are minors.
Recruiters both in the countries of origin and Bahrain create documents
falsifying the age of the minors in order to gain access to the country.
      I will offer the Government my recommendations which will be aimed at
eliminating trafficking in persons and enhancing the protection of the human
rights of the victims and hope that the international community as well as
NGOs and civil society can continue to work together towards this end.
      Biographical Note:
      Sigma Huda is a lawyer and human rights defender in Bangladesh. She
has been serving as the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons since
October 2004. In this capacity, she has visited Bosnia and Herzegovina in
February 2005 and Lebanon in 2006. She is currently travelling in the three
Gulf States of Bahrain, Oman and Qatar.
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