By SOMAN BABY

THE transparent procedures adopted by Bahrain’s Labour Market Regulatory Authority have gone a long way towards eliminating unscrupulous labour market agents, an international conference in the Philippines has been told.

The visa information available online has helped hundreds of expatriate job seekers to reach Bahrain without paying money to middlemen, LMRA chief executive Ali Radhi said at a global forum on labour migration.

The event was organised in Manila by the International Organisation for Migration.

Mr Radhi was accompanied to the event by LMRA e-services and public relations manager Waheed Al Balushi.

“The transparent procedures followed by the LMRA are aimed at protecting the rights of migrant workers,” said Mr Radhi.

“We have been able to reach out to both the employers and the employees in a transparent way.

“For the workers seeking a job in Bahrain, the status of their work visa and details of their new job can be studied by visiting the LMRA website before they leave their countries.

“There is no role for agents or middlemen here. This has led to the elimination of corruption to a large extent.”

Mr Radhi said the LMRA system was praised by the organisers and a large number of delegates who attended the Manila conference.

“They also showed interest in our system which allows employers or their clearing agents to submit applications online using their identification and the given password,” he added.

“The delegates were also shown the Expat Management System that has been specially developed for LMRA.

“They were told that the work visa application is generally processed by LMRA within three days, after which it is sent to the Central Informatics Organisation, which allocates the CPR card within two days.

“It takes another five days at the General Directorate of Nationality, Passports and Residence to process the visa after the necessary security clearance.”

Mr Radhi said once the visa was ready his or her employer was notified online.

“They can also track their application and study its status,” he said.

“If the application is rejected, the reason is shown online and they can apply again.

“Employers can make the payment also online and if the application is rejected the money is returned through a credit note.

He added the conference had been a valuable platform to study the experiences and expertise of other countries.