Bahrain repatriates more than 4,000 illegal residents

Manama: Bahrain repatriated more than 4,000 people in 2011 for staying illegally in the country, officials have said.

The 4,219 figure, however, is well below the more than 9,000 expatriates repatriated in 2010 for not having the documents required to stay in Bahrain.

The repatriation moves are part of the drive to ensure full compliance by foreigners with the law, the government said in response to a parliament query about the presence of illegal residents in the country.

Bahrain, like the other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries is home to tens of thousands of foreigners, mainly Asian unskilled labourers working in the booming construction sector.

Labourers

Many labourers are lured into allegedly lucrative jobs in the Gulf, but, after paying huge amounts of money to “visa sharks” both at home and in the new country, they find themselves the victims of frauds and without a proper job.

They are subsequently forced into years of odd jobs that they take in order to pay back the money they borrowed in their home country and to survive in their new setting.

Bahrain’s lower chamber has been pushing for a full implementation of rules and regulations to combat visa trafficking and limiting the number of foreigners staying illegally in the country.

Possible petty crimes and an onslaught on the local culture and values are often cited as arguments to intensify the drive against the massive presence of foreigners without regular jobs and steady incomes.

“We will not spare any effort to cancel the phenomenon of illegal labourers, one of the most acute problems faced by the labour market,” the government said in its answer to the parliament. “We are exerting special efforts in coordination with the competent authorities to catch foreigners breaking the residency and labour rules and to apply the law.”

Slightly more than half of the 1,150,000 people who live in Bahrain are foreigners.