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Bahrain rules out residency cap for skilled workers

Facing a litany of criticism from the business community over a proposal to impose a six-year residency cap on expatriates, Bahrain's labour minister clarified the suggestion would be confined to semi-skilled employees and labourers.

  • By Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief
  • Published: 00:21 October 5, 2007
  • Gulf News

Manama: Facing a litany of criticism from the business community over a proposal to impose a six-year residency cap on expatriates, Bahrain's labour minister clarified the suggestion would be confined to semi-skilled employees and labourers.

The proposal would affect about 80 per cent of the expatriates in the state and would offer locals more employment opportunities, Majeed Al Alawi said on Wednesday night at a meeting on market reforms.

Earlier this week, Al Alawi told Gulf News that "the residency time ceiling proposed for foreign workers in the Gulf is meant to ensure that unskilled foreign manpower taking part in development projects do not come to live here for long periods that might entitle them the rights of immigrant workers under the UN conventions."

Scope for citizenship

However, skilled employees and those with professional expertise needed in the Gulf should be offered longer residency permits and, subsequently, citizenship, Al Alawi suggested.

However, Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry officials warned the proposal would hit small and medium enterprises where employers are keen on preserving staff continuity. The move also contradicted labour reforms in the kingdom, they said.

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