Foreigners blacklisted by a Gulf country could be denied entry to all GCC states, said Bahrain’s Labour Minister Jameel Humaidan ahead of a ministerial level meeting in Kuwait.

Foreigners blacklisted by a Gulf country could be denied entry to all GCC states, said Bahrain’s Labour Minister Jameel Humaidan, who will head the Bahraini delegation at the meeting in Kuwait, where the initiative will be discussed, reported the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

Labour ministers from the GCC will next month discuss the proposal, which is part of the GCC Security Pact, and will also include setting up a unified immigration database of all expatriates deported from each of the six states.

'The issue of barring a worker deported from a GCC country from entering another Gulf country will be high on the agenda of the meeting in Kuwait,' said Labour Ministry Under-Secretary Sabah Al Dossary.

'Information of deported workers will be shared within the GCC states to stop them from entering their borders.

'If all the GCC labour ministers agree on this proposal, then it has to be informed to the interior ministries in the six states.'

Al Dossary explained that foreign workers, who have violated the law, have been convicted and have court-ordered deportation against them, will be blacklisted.

'There has to be a court case against the foreign worker, police complaint and witnesses following which a decision is taken to deport an individual,' he added. 'It is not an easy process.'

However, the Migrant Workers Protection Society (MWPS) said it had 'reservations' about the blacklisting of expatriate workers.

'There are an average of 30 workers waiting to be deported because their visas have expired and their embassies issue an outpass (emergency certificate) for them to return,' said MWPS chairwoman Marietta Dias.

'There is a shortage of workers in some sectors and people should be allowed freedom of movement. There can be cases that can be studied on an individual basis, such as those who owe money to banks and leave the country without paying.'

The GDN reported last month that the Nationality, Passports and Residence Affairs director of exits Shawki Al Sobei said Bahrain International Airport and the King Fahad Causeway registered a total of 898 cases of forged travel documents between 2008 and 2012.

He said they detected 767 cases of forgeries at the airport and 131 at the causeway. The fingerprint devices used by border control helped officials arrest those entering the country illegally from South Asian countries.

Al Sobei said the devices proved effective in checking deported workers, who tried to enter Bahrain by changing their name and a new passport. – TradeArabia News Service