NIHR opens branch office

Manama : Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) CEO and Head of National Committee for Combating Trafficking in Persons, Osama Abdulla Al Absi, said an agreement was reached with the National Institution for Human Rights (NIHR), permitting it to open a branch office within the Expat Protection Centre and Shelter, which is considered to be the first comprehensive centre to provide preventative and guidance services for expatriate workers.
The centre includes a shelter for victims or potential human trafficking victims.

Al-Absi pointed out that with NIHR opening their office on June 1 via a representative working in the centre directly, the services provided by the Kingdom to protect expat workers are complete.

Acting Secretary General of the NIHR, Dr. Khalifa Ali Al-Fadhil, said that NIHR office would be a link with expats and would reach the highest levels of protection and promotion of human rights. He also said that he looked forward to the opening of more offices in all governorates of the Kingdom, in line with His Majesty the King's reforms to ensure human rights for all.

The centre under the umbrella of the Expat Protection Centre and Shelter, provides complete services to victims or potential victims from the instance they enter the centre, represented in providing security protection, medical services (periodic medical check-ups for the residents via the cooperation of volunteers from a number of private hospitals), mental health services (in cooperation with social researchers), legal counseling (providing legal advice to the resident, introducing him to his rights and methods of obtaining them, assisting him in reaching a settlement, or initiating legal proceedings in courts).

The centre has direct contacts with relevant government entities including the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Labour and the embassies of labour-exporting countries, as well as places of worship of various religions, clubs of foreign communities.