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| Expatriate in Bahrain Introduction: Kingdom of Bahrain situated in Arabian Gulf, is an island with 36 small islands. Bahrain in a nutshell, is a clean country with well-developed infrastructure offering plenty of opportunities in various Industries. But what many may not know is, Bahrain is like how it is, due a major involvement from the Immigrants. One-third, from its population of 688,345 is Expatriates. Which is also more than half of the country’ s work force. Expatriate of Bahrain have a big hand in the prosperity of this land. Expats from over sixty countries live and work in Bahrain at various government agencies, private businesses, service institutions etc. Some of them have come long back when British ruled Bahrain, while some in the recent years. From high-end jobs to labour class their presence can be felt everywhere. Although the labour class sometimes don’t get the dignity they deserve, their contribution is no less. They are mainly from Asian countries like India, Bangladesh, Srilanka, Pakistan etc. With better remuneration and benefits than in their own countries, no wonder they choose to come here for a livelihood. There are also quite a number of Westerners, occupying the white-collar jobs. Oil and Petroleum: Oil and Petroleum happened to be the major Industry of gulf including Bahrain. Engineers from developed countries like UK, Australia provide service to this basic industry of Bahrain in a large scale. The expertise of these expats has helped earn the maximum revenue from this industry. With the increase in the Oil prices, Bahrain has greatly benefited since 2001, with economic growth of 5.5%. However, now with the decline in oil reserves, the need to invest in other sectors has become inevitable. Banking and Finance: Bahrain has emerged as the main banking hub for Gulf and core of Islamic finance. In addition to the locals, qualified MBAs, CAs, CFAs from other countries have flourished the Banking and Finance business. Also ties with banks from different countries are bringing in the skilled manpower of those countries. Hotel & Tourism: Hotel and Tourism, is now turning out to be another major source of revenue. This area too has seen a great improvement because of the better infrastructure and tourism development. As the qualified native is unwilling to take up jobs in this sector due to low pay, the job requirements are filled in by the expats. Quite a few major Hotels in Bahrain, belongs to expats. Education: The teacher community mostly consists of Indians and Egyptians. Although, the Bahraini females are seen more in this field of employment, since the demand as compared to the work force is more. The excess demand is taken care of by the expats. In Bahrain, there are British, Indian and Pakistan schools too. Most of the expats’ children go to these schools Bahrain Police: Law and order of a country represents the character of that Country. Thanks to the Bahrain Police that the law has so well been implemented. These Policemen are also expats mostly from Pakistan or Yemen. Other Areas: The day of a Bahraini begins with the newspaper that’s dropped either by an Indian or a Bangladeshi boy. The Indians sweep the gold market. The car cleaners, here are largely Bangladeshis. The area of concern is these Asians have come from their country to Gulf keeping a lot at stake. Firstly, the brokers who arrange for the visas charge a large sum to get them visas. They get the money by borrowing from somewhere in the hope that they will earn much more and pay back. To their disappointment it takes them a couple of years in gulf only to pay off the loan taken. This is one of the major reasons, for the increasing number of suicides amongst these expats. There are home maids coming from Srilanka, Bangladesh etc. The ill-treatment of the home maids is a real sad issue. If not for them our lives would not be as comfortable as it is now. However, such exploitation is not as much in Bahrain as it is in other parts of Gulf. This only goes to show the better mind-sets of the Bahrainis and the law of this country. Present and Future: Due to the government’s policy, changing in the best interest of expats, there seems to be a rise in the expatriate community. According to a Research, the expats have brought more money into Bahrain than they have taken out of it. Expats today, occupy a place almost in all Bahraini business organization at senior or middle level. This is evidence enough, to prove the significant role played by expats in the betterment of these establishments. One very good thing to learn from the expats, is that for a diligent and deserving land knows no boundaries. Sachana U. |
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