Bahrain Mirror: A number of Shura Council members have proposed to introduce a law to cancel the Flexible Work Permit system stipulated in the Labor Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) law.

They say that the expatriate workforce benefiting from this system is surplus manpower that the labor market does not need.

Instead of cancelling their visas and making them leave the kingdom, they were granted a visa and a residence again, which in turn leads to a significant growth in the number of expatriates.

This proposal was made by Darwish Al-Mannai, Ibtisam Al-Dalal, Fatima Al-Kouheji, Mona Al-Muayyad and Ali Al-Aradi.

Member of the Shura Council, Darwish Al-Mannai, stated that the flexible work permit created a supporting environment so that the hidden economy, in its size, numbers and growth surpasses the official economy, especially since its workers, who are in huge numbers, engage in their illegal trade freely and safely, which poses a serious risk to national employment and the stability of the national economy, particularly in light of the steady rise in remittances of foreign workers from Bahrain. Remittances increased from 927.2 million dinars ($2.5 billion) in 2017 to 1.22 billion dinars (3.3 billion dinars) in 2018, which represents a depletion to national capacity and wealth.

Arabic Version