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IN ANY society there are bound to be elephants in the room – issues that we are uncomfortable with and which we either cover up or ignore despite being confronted with the fallout regularly. In Bahrain, one of these issues is the treatment of the differently-abled – especially expats.
And, that’s strange since the kingdom has one of the most compassionate healthcare delivery systems and a welfare society that genuinely seeks to correct glitches in treating everybody equally.
One reason could be that in the GCC, people come to work – we are all economic migrants and essentially bring a fit body and reasonably working mind to make a living here. That means the large percentage of expats with special needs would be dependents – children or aged parents or siblings.
Given that the cost of treatment and medicine for the corollary conditions of this group can be high, only families with absolutely no other choice will bring their special needs relative to stay with them.
So how does Bahrain treat the special-needs expat? Funnily, with a mix of respect and disdain. All the services and special facilities in public spaces – ramp access, special restrooms etc. – are available to everybody, regardless of nationality. Beyond that, it’s really to each community its own.
Let’s take the case of children with special needs. To date, they exist in a limbo. There are only a couple of centres which offer an education of sorts and support for these children. And, this too comes with a time limit. Once a child with special needs turns 18, s/he is regarded as an adult and is no longer a dependent.
In one case, an expat boy with mild Down Syndrome was trained in basic manual support work like stacking files, setting out stationery etc. and the charity group asked many businesses if they would employ him as a junior office helper.
The answer was that such employment would see the business lose one work visa for a worker who was seen as only 50 per cent effective – so, no thanks. The family had no choice but to split and the mother and siblings returned with the special needs boy to their home country.
I do believe that this country which is so caring about all its residents is simply unaware of special needs rights of expats. We should look more closely at what is needed – we should look beyond serving this segment of society through the prism of charity alone. Just organising an annual sports event for them or raising funds for charities associated with them is not inclusive enough. We need fundamental change in the approach of integrating them.
For starters, children and adults with special needs need to be registered with their nearest health centre as requiring special attention and when they turn 18, their records should be examined and if they are deemed unfit to live independently as adults, they must be given permanent special dependent status.
Schools should be encouraged to offer integrated educational services for children with special needs – they too have the right to education.
If an adult person with special needs can be trained for basic employability then the company which employs him/her should be able to do so under a special work visa that will not impact the number of work permits they get.
We really have miles to go before Bahrain can say that expats with special needs are being cared for to the best of this large-hearted society’s ability.
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