As Bahraini points out, many of the migrants are so poor and destitute in their home countries that they are compelled to accept even the miserable wages and living conditions that are offered them abroad, such as in Bahrain. Unsurprisingly, the ruling elites who control the government – the same class which controls business – are willing to “turn a blind eye” to the despicable conditions under which these people are forced to live. When they protest and struggle for better lives, many people blame them for their present condition, and tell them to shut up and accept their position. All the while, the wealthy owners are profiting off of the broken backs of our brothers and sisters.

but consider this
1.)would you stay in the kind of accommodation they were given?..
2.)they don’t get an annual ticket.. it every two years… so lets do some math… (tkt to india – BD220 divide by 24months (2years))= BD9/- permonth
So the the total monthly salary including ticket= 57+9= BD66 (and not BD170 as you have assumed)

3.)The workers allege they are not given medical leave.. one man said he fell from a scaffolding and hurt his knee… he showed his swollen knee to me.. another said his nose was cut in two (both claimed the incidents occurred on worksites.)
They both said that they had they salary cut for the days they didn’t work while recovering and no insurance papers were filed by the company. The men were told that if they wnted insurance they had to do it….

I agree with you if the men had a decent place to live and proper medical care they had no right to complain.

But if you thing there are Bahrainis willing to work for BD57 (including accommodation)a month and support a family, get me their signatures. i promise you i will do my best to get it publicized and get them jobs. Please don’t think i am being sarcastic, i mean what i say.

I have lived in bahrain from 1992 and have worked with seen how some of the poor bahraini’s live. They are my friends and i am glad to say that they are hard working. Three of them work two jobs in order to save money.
I spoke to them today b4 writing this and they said that it is ridiculous thought that somebody should think that any person (not bahraini) could live on BD57 a month even including accommodation.

“That amount is not enough for even an individual,” one of them told me.

P.S: BS is a good handle for you Bahraini & screwed

Mexico? Why would you go there, your ilk don’t want them coming here for a job (well, as long as they’re legal and know their place as farm workers and gardeners y’all want them, right?).

victims of the Ministry’s System for the past five years

Alright – I might not think that ministry in particular is to blame entirely – I think the govt as a whole is to blame for not introducing minimum wage for all. This would ensure that Bahraini compete on an equal playing field to imported labour. Wouldnt it be great to see Bahrainis involved in manual labor? Building their own country?

Allot of contractors say introducing a minimum wage would be “detrimental” to the economy. Would it really? If everyone was paid a decent wage would they not have more cash to spend and reinvest it into the economy through the purchase of goods and services?

Just to let you guys know, I think today’s Middle East Business Report on BBC World @ 5:30pm is a must watch. They will be looking at foreign labor and unemployment.

You say “they signed contracts knowing and agreeing to what they’re getting paid”.

I say this should apply to you too! Why are you complaining of being “screwed”? You had agreed to that did you not?

Your argument is poor and shameful. As Mahmood has said “treat others as you wish to be treated yourself“

If they paid more to have their houses built by trained Bahrainis and stopped trying to give these contracts to the lowest bidder all the time – a process which forces Contractors to use the cheapest labour available in the world rather than encouraging locals – then houses would be built and Bahrainis would have jobs.

I am always disappointed when the King or Works and Housing Minister promises thousands of houses because I know the Bahraini people do not rise to the challange and the Minister does not insist that the workers are Bahrainis – he prefers cheap houses built by cheap Indians. Just look at the Tender Minister as well, full of praise for saving money for the Governent by open tender lowest bidder systems introduced.

If a contractor gave two prices for a housing project – one using Indian labour and the other using Bahrain labour the Government would pick the cheaper Indian one every time.

So stop blaming the Contractors and stop blaming the Indians they are victims of the Ministry’s System for the past five years.