A SMEAR campaign has allegedly been targeting a scheme that rectifies the status of illegal expatriates in the country and allows them to be self-employed.
Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) chief executive Ausamah Al Absi said the campaign aimed to discredit the Flexible Work Permit (flexi permit) by wrongly blaming it for all the labour violations in the country.
He told the GDN that despite the scheme rectifying the status of thousands of illegal workers in the country they still faced intense criticism from “uninformed segments” of the society.
The flexi permit was launched in July last year and allows illegal expatriates with expired or terminated work permits to sponsor themselves and live in Bahrain after the issuance of a renewable two-year residency permit.
Latest statistics indicate that fewer than 5,000 applicants have applied for the scheme which continues to be at the receiving end of criticism on social media with some MPs calling for it to be scrapped.
“Most of the people who are attributing different things or subjects to the flexi permit are deliberately misinformed,” said Mr Al Absi.
“Somebody has deliberately misinformed them and I will not speculate on the motives.
“However, they are being told things that make no sense and are blatantly wrong, which has led to this misinformation about the scheme.
“I have had people approach me and say now that illegal expats have become employers and they will bring more free visa workers – where did they get that information from?
“There is a natural reaction, which we understand, towards something new or change because of which people become apprehensive, I have no issues with that, but this misinformation is coming from somewhere.”
The flexi permit allows expats to sponsor themselves as freelancers and aims to combat the illegal employment visa black market.
The two-year permits are only available from the LMRA’s branch in Sitra and cost a total of BD1,169, including a BD200 work visa, BD144 healthcare fee, a BD30 monthly fee and a one-time deposit of BD90 to ensure travel tickets can be refunded in case recipients wish to return home.
There is also a one-time BD15 discounted fee to be paid by a person whose residency has expired.
However, domestic workers and those with travel bans or court cases are not covered by the scheme.
“I encourage everyone to question what they have been told about this scheme,” stressed Mr Al Absi.
“Some critics say that all of the people on the streets hold flexi permits, which is wrong.
“I am responsible for what I say and confirm that none of them on the streets hold flexi permits because holders of this permit get good jobs.”
He also revealed that since the issuance of the permits to thousands of expatriates last year the LMRA has registered only two violations.
“We only registered two violations of flexi permit holders working as street vendors,” he added.
Authorities intend to issue 48,000 permits until 2019, generating as much as BD56 million that would otherwise have gone into the illegal visa black market.
Successful applicants receive a blue identity card featuring their smart card number and photograph, subject to renewal every six months free of charge.
Anyone wishing to check if they are eligible for a flexi work permit should send their CPR numbers via text message to 33150150 or visit lmra.bh.
sandy@gdn.com.bh
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