The Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) Chief Executive Officer H.E. Mr. Jamal bin Abdulaziz Al Alawi commends the commitment and interest of the National Committee for Combatting Trafficking in Persons in developing LMRA’s procedures aimed at safeguarding the rights of all labour parties.

“LMRA continues to exert efforts in developing its procedures”, said LMRA’s CEO during the visit of Charge d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy to Bahrain, H.E. Mrs. Margaret Nardi at his office on 25th January 2022. The strong ties of cooperation and coordination between the two friendly countries were praised, in addition to the initiatives launched by LMRA for the development of the work environment and combatting trafficking in persons.

H.E. Mr. Al Alawi reviewed with H.E. Mrs. Margaret Nardi, the key initiatives carried out by the National Committee for Combatting Trafficking in Persons, particularly in relation to the means and ways of fostering the national framework of combatting trafficking in persons towards ensuring that all efforts and endeavours are fully integrated in this respect.

LMRA’s CEO spoke about the accomplishments and initiatives carried out by LMRA in collaboration with partners for safeguarding the rights of all labour parties. Notably, the Wages Protection System, as it is one of the most important and latest system introduced by LMRA which is electronically linked to the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) through financial and banking institutions in the Kingdom.

“This system aims to ensure the transfer of workers’ wages to their banking accounts regularly and in on time, thus ensuring transparency and control. In addition to fostering the judicial authorities in settling any disputes arising from wages limiting the negative phenomena in the labour market; such as irregular labour practices”, explained H.E. Mr. Al Alawi.

LMRA’s CEO mentioned the Optional Insurance System for Domestic Workers, launched last August, as a proactive tool that covers types of incidents faced by the domestic worker and the employer. He also discussed the prospects of cooperation, coordination and expertise exchange in the field of capacity building between LMRA, the US and relevant international organizations, to sharpen the skills and abilities of the national cadres in various sectors of the Kingdom.

H.E. Mr. Al Alawi referred to Bahrain’s interest in benefiting from the expertise of international organizations and agencies, in the various labour sectors and markets.

The Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy to Bahrain, H.E Mrs. Margaret Nardi, congratulated LMRA’s CEO on the reformation of the National Committee of Combatting Trafficking in Persons under his chairmanship, and praised the strategic partnerships with the Kingdom of Bahrain in combatting trafficking in persons.

H.E Mrs. Margaret Nardi expressed her admiration for the recent accomplishments and initiatives carried out by LMRA which boost Bahrain’s national prominent position in this field, and fosters its key role in exchanging expertise with other partners in the region.

H.E Al Alawi concluded by emphasizing Bahrain’s commitment to further developing the legal frameworks and systems that are relevant to the protection of migrant workers, in line with the international conventions and as guaranteed by the Constitution of the Kingdom of Bahrain.