Explanation sought over residency cap proposal

Manama: Bitter divisions over a proposal to impose a six-year residency cap on millions of expatriates in the Arabian Gulf have continued to gnaw at relations between the business community and the labour ministry.

The powerful Bahrain Chamber for Commerce and Industry (BCCI) yesterday issued a stern warning that the proposal announced by Labour Minister Dr Majeed Al Alawi to Gulf News last week, could not apply to the realities of the markets in Bahrain and in the other GCC states and threatened their stability.

The flat rejection of the BCCI of the proposal despite Al Alawi's clarification that it would be confined to semi-skilled employees and labourers is an indication of the ominous standoff looming in Bahrain.

Identity problems

Seeking to give weight to the proposal, Al Alawi referred to unemployment and to the loss of cultural identity, saying that the residency cap would address economic as well as cultural and national identity issues.

But, the BCCI rejected the proposal, saying that a similar suggestion floated by the labour ministers of the GCC states in November 2005 was rejected by the heads of the six GCC states at their summit in Manama.

"The BCCI clearly and unequivocally rejected the suggestions two years ago and explained that it would lead to formidable losses to the business community in the Gulf," the chamber said in a statement.

Now the chamber wants Al Alawi to explain whether there had been new developments that could explain the reintroduction of the six-year residency cap.

"We will officially contact the minister and seek to understand why the proposal has been revived two years after it was turned down," the BCCI said.

According to the chamber, the conditions of the Bahraini labour market needed stability and a high level of flexibility to deal with economic developments and growth requirements.

"We need to shun any process that will disrupt the economy and labour procedures in the country's establishments which are considered the main pillars of the national economy," the chamber said.

The stance of the business community could be once more instrumental in defeating the proposal despite Al Alawi's optimism that it would be adopted by the Gulf Cooperation Council at its annual Doha summit in December.