Bahrain attends key UN meeting

New York, June 6 (BNA): Bahrain attended the UN meeting on the International Covenant on Migrants, which opened on Monday and will run until Friday (June 4-8).  Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) Chief Executive Officer Osama bin Abdulla Al-Absi underlined Bahrain’s recommendations which will be likey adopted by the United Nations in 2018.  He said that the international meeting had shown interest in Bahrain’s labour market reforms and protection of expatriate workers’ rights. He stressed particularly the legislation granting expatriate workers the right to swap employers, in addition to the newly-introduced flexi-work permits.  He pointed out Bahrain’s landmark strides since 2004, launching the labour market reform, which was followed by the establishment of the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) and the Labour Fund (Tamkeen).  The LMRA chief underlined the string of measures which were undertaken by the Kingdom of Bahrain to protect expatriate workers’ rights without encroaching on other parties’ rights.  He pointed out the flexi-work permit project, which was launched by the authority to enable illegal expatriate workers to regulate their situation in compliance with the law.  He stressed Bahrain’s strenuous efforts to review national legislation, in compliance with international requirements and covenants, to protect expatriate workers from blackmail, exploitation or human trafficking.