Ban on workers 'will spell misery'
By Begena P Pradeep
Published: 26th May 2008
Gulf Daily News – Bahrain
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=218474&Sn=BNEW&IssueID=31067
ALL Bangladeshis could be expelled from Bahrain by the end of this year if a proposal by a group of local MPs is approved by parliament, it emerged yesterday.
The proposal by Al Asala bloc follows the death of a Bahraini who was killed in an attack after an argument with a Bangladeshi mechanic at a workshop in Suq Waqif, Hamad Town on Friday.
The worker demanded BD1.500 for welding machine repairs, but Bahraini Mohammed Jassim Dossary insisted on paying BD1, sources told the GDN.
Following a heated exchange, the worker attacked him with a grinder.
Mr Dossary reportedly lay bleeding on the road for some time before he was helped.
He was declared dead at BDF Hospital where he was rushed with severe neck injuries.
The man has been arrested and detained for seven days pending further investigation and medical, technical and police reports, the Public Prosecution said.
He is charged with premeditated crime and will stand trial after the investigations are over.
The seven-member bloc plans to submit the proposal to parliament when it reopens in October after the summer break.
They will set a timeframe to expel all Bangladeshi workers, currently said to be around 90,000 in Bahrain, and stop the recruitment of new ones.
"It has been observed that people from the Bangladesh community are involved in many ugly crimes and murders," bloc member Abdulhaleem Abdulla Ahmed Murad told the GDN.
"We don't want to live with people of such criminal nature. We have been receiving many complaints and requests from Bahrainis to get rid of Bangladeshis from their neighbourhood.
"They were worried for their lives and families.
"Now after the murder of the Bahraini, our people who live in areas that are mostly populated by Bangladeshis are afraid even to step out of their homes.
"Why should we live our lives like mice in our own country because of foreigners?
"Bangladeshis seem to have a culture different even from other Asian expatriates, which we find hard to adjust to.
"They are involved in murders, robberies, drugs and prostitution, which is a threat to social security in Bahrain.
"It is not possible to deport all Bangladeshis from Bahrain at once.
"So we will set a timeframe within which they should be sent home and all the while, no new Bangladeshi should be allowed into Bahrain.
"We are not against a particular group and not saying that all Bangladeshis are bad people.
"But this is their general nature and we don't know who is good or who is bad.
"If you look at the crime records of the past two years, Bangladeshis are the ones who have committed the most shocking and gruesome crimes.
"We don't want to risk any more of our people's lives and this decision is in the best interest of Bahrain.
"We need some time to study the after-effects of our proposal and need to discuss the issue with Bahrain's Labour Ministry and Interior Ministry.
"Then the proposal will be submitted to the parliament when it reopens after summer."
Mr Murad pointed out that Kuwait and Saudi Arabia were successful in banning Bangladeshis from their countries and that Bahrain should follow suit.
Saudi Arabia's Labour Ministry had clarified in March that the decision to stop hiring Bangladeshis was in the housing and agricultural sectors.
This decision was taken because the quota fixed for Bangladeshi workers in Saudi was over, according to a top Ministry official.
The official's clarification came amid rumours that Saudi had halted hiring Bangladeshis altogether after media reports pointed to their involvement in most of the criminal acts.
The Kuwaiti Interior Ministry in May last year said that a decision to suspend the recruitment of Bangladeshi workers to Kuwait was taken because of the crimes committed by them.
It has suspended hiring them citing increasing incidences of crimes.
The country had decided to ban Bangladeshi workers in 1999, apparently because a worker strangled his 90-year-old employer, stole his money and fled.
They lifted the ban a year later following the signing of a technical agreement between the two countries.
However, Bangladesh Embassy hopes the Bahrain government would consider their citizen's murder as a "discrete incident" and "not punish" the entire Bangladeshi community for one person's misdeed.
"We want Bahrain to consider this unfortunate and sad incident as a discrete one and hope the government will not choose to ban the entire community for one person's crime," embassy first secretary Ibrahim Muhammad told the GDN.
"There are more than 90,000 Bangladeshis living in Bahrain and everyone should not be punished for the actions of one person.
"We fully acknowledge that many of our citizens are engaged in various crimes which is frustrating for us and we plan to organise a motivational campaign.
"We will educate the people to report any of their problems to the concerned authorities instead of taking the law into their own hands even if they get desperate.
"Bangladeshis represent the second largest expatriate community in Bahrain.
"They are working here as engineers, policemen and other security personnel, doctors, teachers, financial experts, accountants, business management officials, hotel management staff, chefs and service staff, salesman, bakers, mechanics, plumbers, masons, carpenters, tailors, hairdressers, construction workers, cleaners, drivers, and domestic aides.
"Bangladeshis own or run about 200 grocery shops or cold stores, Internet call centres, small restaurants and saloons centred in Manama, Muharraq, Hamad Town and East Riffa."
Mr Muhammad also pointed out that Dhaka has not yet lifted a ban on their housemaids from travelling abroad to any country in 1998 to protect them from abusive employers, though the policy was implemented in Bahrain in 2004.
Embassy Charge d'Affaires Saiful Islam expressed his sincere sympathy and condolence to the family members, relatives and friends of the murdered Bahraini.
"The news has shocked and saddened me and the Bangladeshi community in Bahrain," said Mr Islam.
"There is no doubt that this sad event has created a very disturbing situation for the Bahrain government, its citizens and for us, the Bangladesh government and the Bangladeshis living here.
"I know that my condolences cannot relieve the pain in the minds of the bereaved family members, friends and relatives of the victim, but I can assure that the Bangladesh government would like to see the perpetrator of the crime dealt with according to law.
"Our government has also expressed shock and sadness at the news of the death.
"They convey their heartfelt sympathy to the members of the victim's family.
"We hope that bilateral relation with Bahrain would not be affected as a consequence of this incident.
"We assure all assistance in the trial process of the suspect. "We, the Bangladeshis, are thinking of them in their sorrow and they have our sincere condolences."
begena@gdn.com.bh
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