Bahrain is committed to protecting the rights of workers, expatriate or Bahraini, said Labour Minister Dr Majeed Al Alawi.

Teams of inspectors frequently visit labour camps and workplaces to ensure workers are treated properly, he told the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.

A new panel has also just been created to mediate between workers and employees, to head off the kind of disputes that brought last week's spate of strikes in the construction industry.

Dr Al Alawi hit back at activists who last month accused him of violating the human rights of foreign workers with his 'Asian tsunami' remarks, in interviews elsewhere.

He said he was 'shocked' by the words of 'well known and educated human rights activists,' who had completely misunderstood what he said.

'Some have even asked me to retract my statements in what appeared to be a huge misunderstanding from their side of the whole issue,' said Dr Al Alawi.

'My question to all of them is: 'Have you really seen my interview on Al Jazeera channel or read 'yourselves' the article in Asharq Al Awsat newspaper, or did you base your statements on what you've heard about them?'

'First of all, when I talked about the danger of the increased number of foreign workers in the region, I was talking about the danger from a demographic and cultural point of view, unlike what the human rights activists have claimed in the article.

'Logically speaking, there is a constant increase in the number of foreign workers in the country - regardless of their religions or origins.

'This increasing number of foreign workers has already made them a majority in many parts of the Gulf region and will make them a majority in other parts if the situation remains as it is.

'One day, those workers who have worked hard in our countries - and I am the first to appreciate their efforts and labour - and who have served and lived here for long years, will have the right to get a permanent citizenship.

'So, what will happen if those workers get their citizenships and become nationals in the host countries?

'If the foreign workers represent the majority in our countries and we Gulf nationals become a minority in our own countries and 'foreign workers' turn 'citizens', wouldn't that change all the demographic and cultural outlook of the region?

'Wouldn't that affect the shape of the decision makers in the region, members of the legislative councils and even cabinets? Would the Gulf countries then remain Arab?'

Dr Alawi said he was professionally and personally committed to the protection of all workers' rights.

'In my position as the Minister of Labour, I have always been - just like all members of my team in the ministry - keen on protecting all the rights of the workers - nationals and foreigners - equally,' he said.

'We have teams who inspect the labour camps and make sure they are up to the standards and the human, health and safety rights of the labourers are preserved and we have other teams who do the same at workplaces.'

'The ministry issued Ministerial Decree Number 24 of 2007, which banned the work on outdoor constructions during the hot hours of July and August and it had issued Ministerial Decree Number 4 of 2006, which obliged employers to transfer the workers' salaries into their bank accounts, to guarantee they receive their salaries full and on time.'

'The ministry is working now on a law to oblige employers to provide workers with a dignified and suitable ways of transportation to and from the worksites.'

'We also have the Labour Relations Directorate, which deals with all the arbitrations and complaints of the labour and helps solve them, beside the efforts made to change the law of sponsorship in the country to make the foreign workers under the sponsorship of the government and not the employers, which will give them more freedom in changi