Bahrain’s Pioneering Role in the Protection of the Rights of Temporary Workers in the Gulf Region

Almutawa, Ahmed; Aldweri, Khalid M.

Abstract

Temporary labour migration is a global phenomenon which has turned into a significant human right issue potentially capable of affecting every country in the world. In the Gulf region, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and Bahrain have chosen different methods to deal with the migratory flows faced by them. This article demonstrates that, although labour law and Islamic teachings afford protection to foreign workers, in Saudi Arabia, the Kafala (sponsorship) system facilitates possible abuses by giving the employers broad control over the employees. In Bahrain, however, the government has taken some measures to move away from this system and afford better protection to foreign workers. Moreover, the article argues that temporary workers are often falling within the grey areas of the law, giving unscrupulous employers rooms to abuse their position.

Citation

Almutawa, A., & Aldweri, K. M. (2020). Bahrain’s Pioneering Role in the Protection of the Rights of Temporary Workers in the Gulf Region. In J. Rehman, A. Shahid, & S. Foster (Eds.), The Asian Yearbook of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (349-369). Brill Academic Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004431768_016

• Online Publication Date: Jul 17, 2020
• Publication Date: Jul 17, 2020
• Deposit Date: Nov 11, 2024
• Publisher: Brill Academic Publishers
• Pages: 349-369
• Series Title: The Asian Yearbook of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law
• Book Title: The Asian Yearbook of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law
• ISBN: 9789004431751
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004431768_016
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3091241