[ Human Trafficking, Country-by-Country ]

BAHRAIN (Tier 1) – Extracted in part from the U.S. State Dept 2023 TIP Report - Bahrain

The Government of Bahrain fully meets the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. The government continued to demonstrate serious and sustained anti-trafficking efforts during the reporting period, considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, if any, on its anti-trafficking capacity; therefore Bahrain remained on Tier 1. These efforts included investigating more labor trafficking cases and continuing to prosecute and convict labor traffickers; it also referred more cases that originated as labor violations as potential trafficking crimes for criminal prosecution. The government provided training on proactive victim identification to officials outside of the anti-trafficking police and identified more labor trafficking victims and potential forced labor victims through increased inspections and provided some potential victims with shelter. The government replaced the Flexi Permit program with the Labor Registration Program (LRP), allowing all foreign workers, including domestic workers, to work without an employer to sponsor their visa under certain conditions, which may have prevented migrant workers’ vulnerability to trafficking. However, as with the previous program, such self-sponsored workers were not entitled to rights and protections enshrined under the labor law. Although the government meets the minimum standards, it investigated, prosecuted, and convicted the fewest sex traffickers in four years. Officials initially identified more potential forced labor victims through increased labor inspections, but the government did not officially identify these individuals as trafficking victims, which may have limited the care they received. The government did not consistently screen vulnerable populations for trafficking indicators, including the 5,200 undocumented workers it deported during the reporting period and individuals in the commercial sex sector, which may have resulted in the penalization of victims for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked. Although the government reported domestic workers had the ability to change jobs without employer approval following the conclusion of a contract, which may have prevented domestic workers’ vulnerability to trafficking as they had the freedom to leave exploitive work conditions that could lead to trafficking, it did not issue an official regulation for the change, which limited awareness and hindered its implementation. Bahraini law did not explicitly prohibit passport retention – a key indicator of trafficking – and passport confiscation remained a widespread practice, according to anecdotal reports. In addition, the government did not provide adequate legal protections for domestic workers, a population highly vulnerable to exploitation, including trafficking. Finally, the government did not enforce penalties for noncompliant employers in the Wage Protection System (WPS) which aimed to prevent instances of salary withholding, another key trafficking indicator. It also continued to identify potential forced labor cases only in severe cases of wage theft, in which workers had not received salaries for several months to years.

Prioritized Recommendations

Significantly increase efforts to investigate, prosecute, and convict sex traffickers and prosecute and convict labor traffickers, including cases of domestic servitude.

Ensure all frontline officials adequately and consistently use screening protocols, specifically when encountering vulnerable groups, such as individuals in the commercial sex industry, domestic workers who left their employer, migrant workers, undocumented workers, and Cuban medical mission workers, including during law enforcement action and labor inspections.

Ensure the Expatriate Protection Center (EPC) is equipped to provide specialized services and shelter for labor trafficking victims, including potential victims not confirmed as trafficked by the Public Prosecutors Office (PPO).

Adopt legal protections for domestic workers and ensure protections are fully implemented.

Fully implement decision to allow domestic workers to change jobs without employer consent after their contract ends, including by releasing official regulations and raising awareness of the change targeting both employers and workers.

Adopt legislation prohibiting passport confiscation with deterrent penalties and ensure officials are trained to consider passport confiscation as a trafficking indicator.

Fully implement the Wage Protection System, including by holding accountable violators with deterrent penalties and ensure officials screen all wage theft cases for other trafficking indicators, and not solely severe cases.

Ensure non-contract registered workers have access to justice and grievance mechanisms if they experience employer abuse or exploitation.

During tripartite contract negotiations for domestic worker employment, ensure domestic workers sign a contract in their own language and in the presence of a labor official to improve oversight of contract switching.

Ensure hotline staff adequately screens for trafficking indicators.

Continue to conduct national anti-trafficking awareness campaigns, strategically targeting migrants, domestic workers, and employers and use orientation programming to ensure workers have not paid recruitment fees prior to traveling to Bahrain.