Bahrain Mirror: The authorities in Bahrain International Airport prevented on Saturday, June 3, 2017 a delegation from the General Federation of Bahrain Trade Union (GFBTU) from traveling to Geneva to participate in the works of 106th session of International Labour Conference. Meanwhile, the authorities did not give the delegation any reason behind this surprising decision.

GFBTU issued on Sunday, June 4, 2014 a statement that read:

Being a titular member in International Labour Conference, the workers delegates of the General Federation of Bahrain Trade Union went to Bahrain airport last Saturday morning 3rd June 2017 for the purpose to leave to Geneva to participate in this conference as a part of its usual annual commitment with other social partners representing the delegation of the Kingdom of Bahrain.

In a surprising move the delegation of GFBTU was prevented from participation in the works of 106th session of International Labour Conference as it was informed by the airport authorities about banning the Head of the workers delegation, Deputy of the GFBTU's General Secretary from travelling without specifying reasons of the ban.

This unexpected decision of ban on travel has made the participation of GFBTU in the coming session of the conference perplex. GFBTU has long been an ideal representative for the workers of Bahrain, and has proved to be very keen to present an excellent image of the trade union movement in Bahrain as free, democratic, professional and independent one. The participation of GFBTU in this annual conference has long preceded the Trade Unions Law No 33 of 2002, and has largely reinforced after the promulgation of this law.

Although GFBTU has communicated the names of its delegates to the Ministry of Labour and Social Development in accordance to usual and customary procedure and upon the request of this Ministry, so far it has not received any notification on any ban from travel against any of its delegates.

In addition to this, the Head of the GFBTU's delegation and Deputy General Secretary has taken part recently in the Arab Labour Conference held in Cairo last April.

It is worth saying that the mechanism of International Labour Organization under whose umbrella this conference is held, is based on the system of tripartism where the social partners (Government, Employers, and Workers) from every country take part.

Based on these facts, GFBTU urges all those concerned, governmental authorities, international organizations, and trade unions to take their responsibilities in this issue in order to correct this situation.

Arabic Version