Bahrain Mirror (Exclusive): The attack of Bangladeshi workers on Bahraini guards is once again angering the irregular labor settlement policies led by the Labor Market Regulatory Authority.

A video clip of Bangladeshi workers beating two security officers working for a private company on a street in the capital Manama was circulating yesterday, before the Interior Ministry announced the arrest of three people.

The video provoked angry reactions on social media outlets, mostly criticizing the policy of Osama Al-Absi, head of the Labor Market Regulatory Authority, to house tens of thousands of runaway workers.

"The first and last official to be held accountable for this disgusting video is the godfather of the flexible visa trade called Ousama Al-Absi and the dealers of illegal residences in Bahrain," Al-Wahdawi Secretary General, Hassan Al-Marzouq, wrote.

Al-Absi had granted more than 40,000 Bangladeshi workers the right to reside amid the Coronavirus pandemic and set up an online platform to secure jobs for them in the private sector.

Al-Marzouq says "Freezing all of Ousama Al-Absi's work in the Labor Market Regulatory Authority, suspension of the flexible visa system immediately, immediate deportation of all irregular workers while securing all their human rights, and prosecution of all residence dealers and confiscation of their money are required to be done today and not tomorrow. It is time to stop ths tampering with the security and economy of Bahrain and its people."

Former MP Ibrahim Bou Sandal advised the Labor Market Regulatory Authority to end the Flexible Visa Project, which grants violating workers the right to reside in the country in exchange for paying fees to the Authority.

"Let's assume that the Authority had good intentions for issuing flexible labor to correct a situation, however, reality proved that the decision was wrong", he said, adding that "any sane person would admit the error and seek to correct it."

The Chamber of Commerce, the General Federation of Workers Trade Unions and political societies are demanding that the project be halted, but their claims are not being met.

For his part, Youssef Al-Khaja, a member of Wa'ad, commented by saying, "the illegal residence of workers has been overlooked and the fines were dropped. They were sheltered and fed and the Coronavirus infections among them were endured. Is this the wanted outcome?"

The Authority granted illegal workers exceptions and privileges to encourage them to remain in the market. Economists do not have an explanation for Bahrain's policy, at a time Gulf States are moving towards slimming the size of foreign labor.

Journalist Jaafar Al-Jamri is not optimistic about settling the issue that has been pending for years. He says "the attack by a number of Bengalis on Bahrainis is not the first and will not be the last, as long as the spiritual father of irregular labor is in the first line of defense."

A journalist from Akhbar Al-Khaleej saw that bringing in Bengali workers should be stopped since the murder of the Imam of bin Sehdda Mosque at the hands of a Benagli Mouzin, adding that "the situation hasn't changed to date (...). The reason and the answer is in one person" in reference to Al-Absi.

Instead of responding, Al-Absi threatened to act against him, prompting the journalist to delete his tweet.

Arabic Version