Bahrain Mirror: Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense, and National Security in the House of Representatives rejected a bill to amend foreigners' law (immigration and residence). The amendment suggests "creating a money account specialized to achieve the aims of this law with 5% of the fees for entry and residence of foreigners, all foreigners, to Bahrain. The bank account of each foreigner is used according to the interior minister's decision in case he doesn't afford the expenses of returning to his country."

Commenting on the legal amendment, the Interior Ministry said that it "outweighs the Ministry to retain the existing text as to what might have caused by the proposed one on terms of exploitation by employers to evade payment of the fees under the pretext of their inability to afford them."

It also said that "allocating 5% of visa fees collected by the Ministry of labour market which Labour Market Regulatory Authority collect are fees of visa entry to the Kingdom and residence permit and visa back, which makes fees of deporting the foreigner taken out of the fees collected by the ministry."

The committee pointed out that "the proposed text exempts the employer from the obligation to bear the expenses of foreigner migration, however, the labour market regulation Act and ministerial decision number (122) of 2007 concerning the deporting controls and procedures of the foreign worker, stipulates that the employer bears the expenses of foreigner deportation."

Arabic Version