Bahrain steps in the rights direction

Bahrain fancies itself as a progressive, liberal Gulf society, and so it came as no surprise to hear last week that it is scrapping its existing sponsorship system for foreign workers, in the hope of reducing the nation's reliance on expatriate labour, and granting migrant workers better legal rights.

Under the old system, workers were forced to find local sponsors who would usually take their passports. From then on, the sponsor could dictate where, when and for whom that worker should present themselves for employment. The new law, effective August, allows foreign workers to move to new jobs simply by informing their existing employers of their intention to end the contract.

"This is the end of the sponsorship system, which does not differ much from slavery," said minister of labour affairs, Majeed Al Alawi.

The new law is applicable to both the public and private sectors, and should act to guarantee the rights of the both employers and employees - a huge step forward that will surely be tracked by other Gulf countries.

Migrant workers will be spared the attentions of local gangmasters who force expatriates to stay in the country, bringing in workers and dumping them on the market in exchange for monthly fees. And Bahrainis will be helped into work as employers will no longer be able to count on forced labour from low-wage expatriates.

Of course, there are still details to be ironed out and the new legislation must come with some key qualifications. Even honest employers spend a considerable amount of cash on sourcing and training people, as well as arranging their visas in the first place. A free-for-all would render them helpless to prevent defections to their competitors, so the government must ensure that workers aren't able to job-hop for marginal pay increases.

Workers should be prevented from moving jobs within 12 months of their arrival in Bahrain, and when they do move, they should then pay their own visa processing costs, as well as any airfare picked up by their first employer.

If these issues can be addressed to the satisfaction of both employers and employees then, with the exception of the greedy few who have been taking advantage of the old legislation, all in Bahrain will be celebrating, and all in the Gulf should stand up and take note.

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Ahead of the arabian travel market (ATM) last week, industry watchers were peddling two lines: that a dearth of visitors and complete lack of any substantial announcements would plunge the Middle East tourism sector into an even steeper spiral; or that a vibrant event, albeit more low key than we have been used to these last few years, would show the world that the Gulf travel industry is primed for a quicker recovery than its equivalents around the globe.

The reality, as is so often the case, was a little bit of both. There was little earth-shattering news, but plenty of hustle and bustle.Some of the most high profile attendees of previous years stayed away, but the exhibition halls were still filled with stands and sales speak.

For regular devotees of the forum, however, there was a little something missing from ATM 2009.

"It's still busy, but there's nothing to do in the evenings," grumbled one high-profile CEO last week. "There are a lot less parties."

Less parties? If that's the price we have to pay during the most synchronised recession in world history, and the most severe crash since the Great Depression, I think most of us would take it.

Andrew White is the editor of Arabian Business English.

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