Bahrain maintained its top ranking for the ninth consecutive year in the 2026 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report released last night by the US State Department.
Bahrain has achieved great success in combating human trafficking
The annual report once again placed the kingdom in the Tier 1 status – the only GCC country recognised as being fully compliant with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act’s (TVPA) minimum standards for elimination of human trafficking.
The report lauds a series of measures taken by the kingdom, including the establishment of a dedicated victim support office to provide a secure, victim-centred setting for giving testimony; assistance, including financial aid, for potential trafficking victims at a shelter for vulnerable people; and the launch of an enhanced Wage Protection System (WPS), enabling the government to immediately verify whether workers are paid on time.
Prosecutions
During the reporting period from April 1, 2025 until March 31, 2026, the government investigated 57 trafficking cases, compared with 44 in the previous reporting period.
“This included 12 sex trafficking cases involving 27 alleged sex traffickers; 44 forced labour cases involving 71 alleged labour traffickers; and one case with one individual allegedly involved in both sex and forced labour crimes,” added the report.
The government prosecuted 33 suspected traffickers and convicted 37, compared with 48 prosecutions and 55 convictions recorded during the previous reporting period. In addition, the government continued previously initiated prosecutions of three sex traffickers.
The findings reveal that the government sentenced the majority of convicted traffickers to at least one year imprisonment plus fines. The convicts were mandated to cover victim repatriation costs and non-Bahraini traffickers were to be deported upon completion of their prison sentences.
The anti-trafficking law No. 1 of 2008 criminalised sex and labour trafficking, imposing penalties of three to 15 years’ imprisonment and fines of BD2,000 to BD10,000 along with victim repatriation costs.
Protection
The latest dossier highlights that in 2025, the Bahrain government identified and referred 22 victims to a government shelter for care – this included 15 sex trafficking victims (13 women, two girls), five forced labour victims, and two victims of unspecified forms of exploitation.
This compared with 32 victims identified and referred to care during the previous reporting period.
Overall, the government assisted all 22 victims directly, providing shelter, health care, counselling, legal services, and repatriation assistance through the Labour Market Regulatory Authority’s Expat Protection Centre. Three victims refused to stay in the government shelter but still accessed other services.
“The government allocated BD326,134 for victim services directly as compared to BD255,606 during the previous reporting period,” stated the report.
It explains that authorities issued compensation for victims from its victim assistance fund, including a lump-sum payment of BD924 to aid in the reintegration process, while potential victims received BD77 monthly during the course of investigation.
Prevention
A total of 445 individuals took part in nine anti-trafficking training sessions and one awareness workshop for law enforcement officers, while 139 Bahraini diplomats and administrative staff were trained on combating trafficking in persons during the reporting period.
“All Bahrain diplomats must sign a code of conduct specifying illegal acts for which they can be held accountable, including trafficking in persons,” it adds.
Last year, the anti-trafficking in persons directorate within the Interior Ministry established a dedicated victim support office to provide a secure setting for testimony to support psychological safety.
Furthermore, the report outlines that the government allocated BD2,668,081 for prevention efforts – up from BD2,091,602 allocated during the previous reporting period.
In addition, 58 awareness sessions were delivered during the reporting period, reaching 4,966 diverse stakeholders, including first responders, ministries, private sector, civil society, labour-sending countries’ embassies, and expat workers, particularly domestic workers.
Challenges
The annual assessment also sheds light on shortcomings or issues that require attention such as prohibited recruitment fees workers paid in their home countries to seek employment in Bahrain, unpaid wages and passport confiscation by some employers.
The government was urged to adequately address this practice and hold unscrupulous recruiters accountable.
“The Labour Market Regulatory Authority reported 61 cases of worker-paid recruitment fees and referred the cases to the Public Prosecution for criminal investigation,” the report said.
It states the authorities conducted more than 700 inspections of recruitment agencies and employment offices, resulting in the closure of one office and identification of eight non-licensed individuals falsely acting in the capacity of recruitment agents, whom officials referred to courts. They were later convicted for operating a recruitment agency without a licence.
The LMRA-Interior Ministry joint taskforce conducted 371 inspections which led to 61 potential trafficking cases referred to prosecution.
Another gap pointed in the report was related to unpaid wages and passport retention of expats.
“Although the government gave workers access to free international bank account numbers upon arrival, some employers and employees still relied on cash transfers,” according to the report.
“Observers and non-governmental organisations continued to report wage theft as a prominent issue for certain migrant and domestic workers, who, despite receiving IBANs, were not required to be paid through the WPS.”
The LMRA also reported that it received 4,376 claims of unpaid wages from workers during the year, referring 693 to labour courts for litigation.
Separately, 116 cases of wage theft were referred to court; the government reported in several cases, employers were penalised including through imposition of fines.
The report highlighted that traffickers in countries of origin deceptively recruited skilled workers – including doctors and teachers, mostly from Africa – and upon arriving to Bahrain, forced them into domestic work.
In addition, nationals of countries without diplomatic or consular presence in Bahrain, most significantly from African countries, were particularly vulnerable to trafficking, including domestic workers.
The issue of pending legislation on improved domestic worker protections which remains under review is also highlighted especially not including them under WPS. The lack of a mechanism for unannounced inspections of domestic workers’ accommodations heightened their vulnerability to trafficking, the report added.
Officials said 5,982 domestic workers were screened using a multilingual text-to-voice self-screening system at Bahrain International Airport upon arrival. Three workers were referred for additional employment verification, which found no indicators of exploitation.
On passport retention, the report said the LMRA screened workers for trafficking indicators. When employers refused to return passports to the authorities, administrative penalties were imposed, including restrictions on issuing or renewing work permits and accessing other LMRA services. Cases were also referred for legal action.
During the reporting period, the LMRA collected and returned 775 passports.
Global recognition
Bahrain is the only Gulf country with the Tier 1 status, with five others placed in Tier 2. The kingdom has constantly moved up in the annual assessment, from being in Tier 3 in 2011 to maintaining a Tier 1 rating since 2018.
The report categorises countries into four sections as mandated by the TVPA, which is the American law against human trafficking.
Tier 1 nations fully meet TVPA standards, while Tier 2 and Tier 2 Watchlist nations do not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, though making significant efforts to do so.
Countries not complying with the minimum standards are placed in Tier 3 and subjected to certain US sanctions.
“The 2026 Trafficking in Persons Report reveals new ways criminal organisations and repressive regimes use this abhorrent practice for financial gain,” said US State Department’s spokesman Thomas Pigott at the report launch yesterday. The report also calls for accountability for governments that fail to punish traffickers and protect their citizens.
sandy@gdnmedia.bh
&uuid=(email))