Trafficking in Persons Interim Assessment - Bahrain
| Publisher | United States Department of State |
| Publication Date | 24 February 2010 |
| Cite as | United States Department of State, Trafficking in Persons Interim Assessment - Bahrain, 24 February 2010, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4b8e7a7f2.html [accessed 6 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
[From the introductory text accompanying this report on the U.S. Department of State website: "In most cases, the Interim Assessment is intended to serve as a tool by which to gauge the anti-trafficking progress of countries that may be in danger of slipping a tier in the upcoming June 2010 TIP Report and to give them guidance on how to avoid a Tier 3 ranking. It is a tightly focused progress report, assessing the concrete actions a government has taken to address the key deficiencies highlighted in the June 2009 TIP Report. The Interim Assessment covers actions undertaken between the beginning of May – the cutoff for data covered in the June TIP Report – and November. Readers are requested to refer to the annual TIP Report for an analysis of large-scale efforts and a description of the trafficking problem in each particular country or territory."]
The Government of Bahrain has made limited progress since the release of the 2009 TIP Report. Bahrain has not initiated new prosecutions under its 2008 anti-trafficking law. The Bahraini government indicated that there have been a number of prosecutions under separate non-trafficking statutes that could be related to trafficking, including life sentences imposed on two Bahraini citizens convicted of murdering their domestic workers.
The majority of potential trafficking victims continue to be prosecuted for prostitution or immigration violations and quickly deported, although in the single application of Bahrain's anti-trafficking law in December 2008, some victims who were identified were not prosecuted and were referred to protective services. There remains no formalized procedure for identifying potential trafficking victims. The Bahraini government continues to refer suspected victims (nearly all women) on an ad hoc basis to protective services; they have not yet implemented a formal referral process.
Bahrain, in August 2009, implemented reforms designed to enable labor mobility for expatriate workers. These reforms do not cover Bahrain's approximately 70,000 migrant domestic workers – the group that is most vulnerable to trafficking. The parliament is considering draft legislation, however, that would include domestic servants in the 1976 Labor Law, giving them the same protections now afforded to other expatriate workers.
