PARLIAMENT’S session descended into chaos yesterday over accusations that a government body was involved in free visa racketeering.
A heated argument erupted between a Cabinet minister and a senior MP, who accused the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) of profiting from issuing “illegal work visas” to expatriates with criminal backgrounds.
It came as parliament debated an amendment to the 2006 Labour Market Regulatory Set-up Law that would force expatriates to get a certificate of good conduct from Bahrain’s embassies and diplomatic missions before being approved for a work visa.
Parliament’s services committee has recommended the amendment be rejected, but MPs yesterday voted to pass it. During debate, parliament’s legislative and legal affairs committee chairman Shaikh Majid Al Majid accused the LMRA of conducting practices against the labour market by allowing companies to buy “illegal employment visas”.
“The LMRA legalises the stay of expatriates illegally through the flexi permit as it racketeers the free visa market in Bahrain alongside other unlawful practices that see companies pay double to push ahead with visas,” he shouted during the weekly session.
However, he was interrupted by Parliament and Shura Council Minister Ghanim Al Buainain, who said such baseless accusations should not be made without solid evidence.
“The Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) has rejected the proposal because additional costs would be incurred on businessmen but here we have MPs who want it to go ahead,” he said.
“The accusations of selling visas and racketeering are unacceptable and need to be addressed and we don’t need to prove the opposite, the accuser needs to present evidence, not the government.”
Shaikh Al Majid, however, shouted back that he did not need to prove anything.
“This is a known fact as the LMRA has a bad reputation of pocketing more for getting visas for rejected expatriates,” he claimed.
“All of the expatriates coming here to work are from countries that have our embassies and diplomatic missions there, so the government’s claims that getting such a certificate is impossible is utterly rubbish.
“It is simple, the government wants to cover up on expatriates that are criminals in their countries and come here.”
During debate, LMRA chief executive Ausamah Al Absi also urged MPs to reject the amendment because it would be logistically and financially difficult to implement.
“There are 130,000 requests (for a work visa) every year and it is impossible to follow up on such a certificate,” he said.
“This amendment would also affect the economy negatively as it would affect the business sector.”
While the Interior Ministry’s ministerial committees head Captain Mohammed Al Hermi said it was the responsibility of security officials to check on criminal records of individuals and not the LMRA.
“The certificate doesn’t solve the problem because there are expatriates who enter the country on false passports and pass through many checks undetected,” he told MPs.
“So the certificate doesn’t resolve the problem since the documents could be authentic but issued through bribes and would easily be ratified by our consulates.
“MPs say that criminals are penetrating the country in bulk but I assure everyone that this is wrong as we have strict monitoring and control.”
His comment drew criticism from MPs, with financial and economic affairs committee vice-chairman Jalal Kadhem saying that majority of convicted criminals were expatriates.
“Embezzlers, thieves, killers, pimps and molesters are mostly expatriates – I am not making this up, just visit any police station,” he said.
“No one becomes criminal, they are already brought here with a criminal background.”
The amendment has been referred to the Shura Council for a vote.
Meanwhile, MPs also approved amendments to the 2006 Labour Fund (Tamkeen) Set-up Law and referred it to the Cabinet to draft as a proper law.
It will see representatives from small and medium businesses as board members.
Parliament also approved a law amending protocols for a civil aviation agreement with the Philippines following last week’s heated arguments as several MPs raised concerns that the agreement was unconstitutional because it was submitted in English and not Arabic.
The government averted a political crisis with the Philippines as it stopped MPs from voting against the law saying Bahrain’s national carrier Gulf Air could lose an aviation deal to Manila should MPs reject the agreement.
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