Bahrain continued to achieve a new achievement in addition to its record in the field of combating trafficking in people, by preserving the first category for the eighth year in a row in the US State Department report on assessing the efforts of countries in the field of combating trafficking in persons, which reflects international confidence in the Kingdom’s efforts, its success in promoting a culture of human rights protection and combating trafficking in people as part of its public policy and national plans, and providing them with the guarantee mechanisms By sustaining.
The US State Department’s report on the classification of countries in the field of combating trafficking in persons is the most prominent annual international reference, as it monitors and evaluates the efforts of 188 countries, and classifies them in 3 categories, where the first category “Tier 1” refers to countries committed to the standards of protecting the victims of trafficking in persons, a category that the Kingdom has become since 2018, along with a number of developed countries.
The advanced classification of Bahrain is based on the first category of a serious and conscious national vision, as the Kingdom has initiated the development of the work environment, and to build an integrated system to protect the groups most exploited, according to sustainable procedures and measures, based on its firm belief that these efforts constitute a natural extension of a societal and authentic moral culture preserved by the Kingdom.
The Kingdom’s efforts were also based on an advanced legislative and procedural system, specialized centers, protection and grievance systems, and effective control, as well as intensifying awareness efforts and expanding societal partnership, realizing that prevention begins with knowledge, and that many exploitation cases that are internationally monitored are usually linked to the low level of awareness of rights and systems, and may begin in many of them exporting countries, and not from countries Repeated.
The efforts included strengthening the legal and legislative structure in compliance with international agreements and treaties, led by the Labor Law in the private sector No. 36 of 2012, and Law No. 19 of 2006 regarding the regulation of the labor market, as well as Law No. 1 of 2008, regarding the fight against trafficking in persons, which is the first integrated law
It defines the crime of trafficking in people, shows its forms, and places penalties against its perpetrators. The Kingdom also joined a number of relevant international agreements and treaties, the most prominent of which is the United Nations Convention to Combat Organized Crime and its protocols flying in it, especially a prevention protocol, suppression and punishment of trafficking in persons, especially women and children under Law No. 4 of 2004.
At the level of institutional construction, the Kingdom of Bahrain launched in 2015 the Center for Working Protection, which is the first comprehensive and specialized center in the Middle East region, concerned with providing preventive, guidance and legal services, and providing accommodation for potential victims and victims, and also includes a communication center working around the clock in several languages.
The Kingdom of Bahrain launched the national referral system in 2017, which is also the first system of its kind in the region that provides a framework for coordinating national efforts, and guarantees the identification of victims from the moment of knowledge of the crime, until they reintegrate or return their voluntary, while providing ways to help and protect compatible with national and international standards.
In the context of promoting protection and prevention, the Labor Market Regulatory Authority has created a preventive monitoring administration, as a pre -emptive tool to detect exploitation cases in the work environment, and the wage protection system, which obliges business owners to pay wages regularly through the approved financial and banking institutions, has been created, enabling the authority to impose its control and verify the commitment, and reduce the disputes related to wages, in addition to launching the initiative to issue the international bank account number “IBAN” for every expatriate worker to ensure the rights of all parties, and accelerate the procedures for resolving the file of litigation.
To ensure access to justice and accelerate procedures, the first specialized public prosecutor was established in the region to investigate people trafficking cases, as well as allocating a specialized court to decide on these cases, and the Fund for Supporting Victims of Trafficking in Persons, the Protection Office of the victims and witnesses in the crime of trafficking in persons, in addition to providing administrative assistance to expatriate workers in filing labor and civil cases for registered labor, and providing grievances on decisions The authority issued by the authority against employment, all of which is easy and free, to ensure the enjoyment of the right to litigation and administrative grievance as ways to be fair.
As for awareness and promotion of partnership, the Labor Market Regulatory Authority has intensified its efforts in partnership with the embassies and consulates of the exporting countries of employment, international organizations and those with a relationship from the private sector, where the “Anti -Trafficking Forum” was launched to discuss the developments of combating trafficking with people with relevant people.
A number of programs directed to employers and workers have also been implemented to enhance awareness of rights, duties, ways of support and protection. In addition to the “Together We Work” initiative in cooperation with the International Organization for Migration “IOM” to enhance public societal awareness of the rights and duties of the parties to work.
To ensure the sustainability of these efforts, Bahrain established the regional center for training and capacity building in the field of combating trafficking in persons, to develop and develop curricula to train national cadres in various governmental and private agencies, and to raise the capabilities of employees in the front classes such as police centers, hospitals, health centers, airports, ports, judicial agencies, to get to know the victims or potential victims, qualify and train trainers And experts in this field.
This achievement reflects the Kingdom’s steadfast commitment to humanitarian principles, and its continued development of its system to protect human dignity and safeguard rights.
