A TOTAL of 47,216 expatriate employees had their contracts terminated last year, said Labour and Social Development Minister Jameel Humaidan.
Another 82,333 expatriates had their contracts renewed, while 44,279 entered the workforce.
This compares with 96,446 expatriates having contracts terminated in 2014, when 137,443 expat contracts were renewed and 78,866 foreigners entered the workforce.
The figures are included in a written response to parliament on the makeup of the workforce.
“We had a total of 1,261 Bahrainis, out of them 732 men and 529 women, sacked from work in the private sector last year – with all being enrolled for monthly unemployment benefits from the Unemployment Fund, which is 60pc of their salaries – or a maximum of BD500 for six months,” said Mr Humaidan.
“Statistics for 2011 and 2012 show high dismissal rates for Bahrainis with 2,538 and 2,688 Bahrainis losing their jobs respectively, but that was due to the unfortunate circumstances related to the unrest and this has since been resolved completely.”
Parliament is due to vote on amendments to the Insurance Against Unemployment Law, which could increase jobless benefits to 70pc of a beneficiary’s salary for a year, with a cap of BD1,000.
In another response, Mr Huamidan said the poverty line in Bahrain was calculated as a family of six living on an income of BD336.
“We have more than 15,000 families receiving monthly social aid and it is in line with the regular annual average,” he said.
“There are different schemes to make them Productive Families who have proper income rather than being dependent.
“Other financial aid given by the government is also given to them without it affecting the way monthly payments from the ministry are calculated.”
Mr Humaidan said a new four-year strategy for the disabled will start next year in response to another question.
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