AN investigation has been launched into a manpower agency after it posted a picture of an Ethiopian housemaid as part of a Ramadan “offer”.
The advertisement posted on social media stated there was a “special Ramadan offer for Ethiopian workers for BD330 only”, alongside a photograph of a woman.
A message was also written below the picture that read, “limited numbers for all those who need a housemaid”.
The National Institution for Human Rights (NIHR) has considered the act as a violation of rights and discriminatory.
NIHR secretary general Dr Khalifa Al Fadhel said a citizen alerted the NIHR about the post after he shared the advertisement in Arabic on Instagram.
“We are firstly thankful to this person who is a human rights defender as he contacted the NIHR and shared the details of the Instagram advertisement where a manpower agency, as part of a Ramadan offer, was offering a maid of certain nationality at a price,” Dr Al Fadhel told the GDN last night.
“The NIHR contacted the Labour Ministry to take action against the registered manpower agency.
“This is against the Bahraini culture as our strengths have always been diversity and tolerance.”
However, Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) chief executive Ausamah Al Absi said this particular case was not a major violation.
“The only mistake was that the person, who must be trying to be creative in marketing, used a photograph of the worker,” explainedMr Al Absi.
“It is not wrong for a registered agency to post advertisements regarding the prices it offers, but using the photograph is not right.”
Mr Al Absi added that in April last year the licence of a manpower agency was suspended for offering a housemaid as a prize in a social media campaign.
The agency was found to be running an advertisement in Arabic on Instagram under the title, ‘Competition ahead of the month of Ramadan´.
Social media users were invited to share the post for a chance to “win an Ethiopian housemaid” that amounted to a suspected case of trafficking in people.
“We drafted a set of guidelines after last year’s incident to all registered agencies and one of the points stated was not to use photographs,” added Mr Al Absi.
“Our teams constantly monitor violations on social media including offensive wordings.”
The LMRA has posted on its website (lmra.bh) details of 118 registered recruitment agencies that meet its strict criteria to protect the rights of all parties including the employees.
The GDN in September 2016 reported that a manpower agency came under fire for an online advertising campaign promoting special offers on foreign housemaids, specifically from Kenya and Ethiopia.
Bahrain-based Mpower Recruitment Solutions advertised one housemaid promotion as the “best offer this Eid”, while another of its adverts said “get your housemaid for as low as BD599”.
Commodities
The adverts, which appeared on the company´s Facebook page, also offered “free two-year runaway insurance” which was criticised by activists for treating domestic workers like commodities.
The GDN previously reported that Bahrain’s police investigated 29 potential human trafficking cases between April 2016 and March last year, according to latest US State Department report on Trafficking in Persons (TIP).
Five of these cases related to forced labour, 19 were about sexual exploitation and five involved domestic workers.
The report said Bahrain’s Interior Ministry probed 29 potential trafficking cases compared to 18 in the corresponding period for the previous reporting cycle.
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