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1 January 2008
A NEW
law to combat human trafficking in Bahrain was backed by the Shura Council
yesterday.
It
stipulates that people caught trafficking in humans would be fined between
BD10,000 and BD100,000.
The
punishment will be doubled if those brought into the country were involved
in criminal or terrorist activities.
It will
also be doubled if those being trafficked are below 15, female or disabled
as well as if they sustain long-term sickness or injury due to the activity
they were forced to do.
The new
law, drafted by the government and approved by parliament earlier in the
year, will now be ratified by His Majesty King Hamad.
It also
sets up a new Human Trafficking Victims Assessment Commission, which will
be under the jurisdiction of the Social Development Ministry.
The new
commission will be responsible for offering medical and psychological
treatment to human trafficking victims.
It will
also send them back to their home countries whenever their treatment is
over, or find them jobs in the country if permitted by the Interior
Minister, with their stay being assessed every six months.
A new
National Human Trafficking Authority will also be set up under the Interior
Minister. It will come up with programmes to combat human trafficking and
co-operate with others involved in similar activities.
Council
foreign affairs, defence and national security committee secretary Rashid
Al Sabt said that the new law, which is likely to be approved in the next
few months, was in line with international conventions and treaties Bahrain
has recently signed.
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Bahrain
- Anti-Trafficking Law Set to End Minors' Abuse
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 A
blot in Bahrain’s rights record is hoped to be erased with the
enactment of a sweeping anti-human trafficking law.
The arrival of minors, particularly girls from southeast Asian
countries to work in Bahrain as housemaids, has been a thorny issue for
the government.
Cases of poor labourers being duped to take up ‘high-paying’ jobs are
hoped to drop as the new law stipulates fines between BD10,000 and BD100,000
and jail terms.
The law was one of the bills the Shura Council approved last month.
The law targets rogue recruiters in particular.
“People come here for every kind of work and are brought in by
recruiters with suspicious intentions. Some recruits are maltreated and
in worse cases young women end up as prostitutes,” a human rights
advocate told the Tribune yesterday.
“This has been happening for so many years but no sponsor or people
involved in the racket has ever been hauled to court,” he said.
Cases of minors entering the country have surfaced in the past three
years.
The Philippine embassy is dealing with the cases of two minors who are
among those waiting to take flights home.
The two were among several minors brought to work as housemaids from the
Philippines, Indonesia or India.
“We hope the police will crack down on rogue sponsors and protect the
minors,” Philippine embassy case officer Geoffrey Puy said. “We welcome
the law because it will help eliminate abuse of young female workers.”
Under new rules, people recruiting foreigners must have licence and
facilities.
Titus Filio
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