Friday, November 20, 2009

The death of Bahrain Institute for Political Develpment

Yesterday the king issued and order on appointing the board of Bahrain Insitute for Political Development, based on the name that king choosed, you assume that the insitute is in its way to death, wow great names ha, Al hamar is the CEO, and what is the other names? its not based on development the political culutre in Bahrainl its clearly based on the loyality Al Khalifa Family , and its a clear message that Al Khalifa doesn't want any kind of political development in this country nor in human right ( as her previouse order to issue the council of human right in Bahrain, this royal family is leading this country and choosing the leaders - even in the opposition - just to have more time with this corruption that they cannot stop it as its have the power they need.

the member of this new board is following

HIS MAJESTY APPOINTED NABEEL AL HAMAR AS PRESIDENT AND FOUAD SALEH SHEHAB AS VICE PRESIDENT WITH THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE FOLLOWING : DR.IBRAHIM JAMAL AL HASHIMI, DR. MOHAMMED AHMED ABDULLA, DR.MOHAMMED WALEED AL MASRI, DR.MAI SULYMAN AL OTAIBI, DR.ABDULLA YUSUF AL HAWAJ, JAMEELA ALI SALMAN AND HUSSAIN RASHID AL SABBAGH.


Thursday, November 12, 2009

Ali Abdulemam in Financial Times Report About Bahrain

Labour: Liberalised labour laws help country stand out from peers

By Abeer Allam

Published: November 9 2009 17:47 | Last updated: November 9 2009 17:47

When Bahrain abolished much of its expatriate sponsorship system this summer, the move sparked an avalanche of protests from the business community. Executives complained that the move would destroy their businesses and turn employees against them.

“They said there would be chaos in the market,” says Majeed al Alawi, the labour minister. “But cheap labour distorts the whole labour market. We want to ensure the human rights and contractual rights for expatriates are respected.”

In other Gulf countries, sponsorship, or kafala, gives employers scope to exploit foreign workers. Because they are dependent on obtaining consent before travelling, changing jobs, or being joined by their families, employers have leverage over them.

Expatriate workers dominate most high and low skilled labour markets in the Gulf. Bahrain has calculated that freeing its labour market will give it a competitive advantage. If foreign employees can switch jobs, they may move to better conditions or demand better salaries,reducing the salary gap between Bahraini and foreign nationals.

Labour reforms, which also extend unemployment benefit to Bahraini citizens, are part of the Bahrain’s Economic Development Board‘s plan to overhaul the labour and education systems. Fees for work permits for foreigners have been increased to BD200 ($533), and sponsors now pay a BD10 monthly fee for each expatriate worker.

Officials hope increasing the cost of foreign workers will induce employers to hire nationals. The policy, experts say, may be emulated by other Gulf states, where governments have focused on quota systems, which are open to abuse.

Periodic unrest in Bahrain is often galvanized by unemployment and under-employment among young Bahrainis, particularly from its Shia majority.

But the government says the plan should yield opportunities for all. Government efforts have reduced unemployment, with the official rate falling from 16 per cent six years ago to around 4 per cent.

But young Bahrainis are hard to please, business owners say. They show up for work for few days but then leave and go back to protest to the labour ministry. Many shun manual work and expect cushy government jobs.

“The private sector considers Bahrainis to be undisciplined, untrained and demanding,” says Mr Alawi. “Young people say salaries are too low, there is no future or benefit.”

Tamkeen, a BD66m ($175m) fund set up two years ago, supports vocational training and career development for Bahrainis. By offering loans to qualifying small and mid-size businesses that can pay up to 50 per cent of start-up costs for equipment, the fund subsidises companies that gradually replace foreign workers. It also retrains Bahrainis for the job market. It has helped as many as 5,600 companies in two years, officials say.

“We want Bahrain to be the first choice of employment,” says Nazar al Baharna, chairman of Tamkeen. “Raising the productivity should broaden the middle class and fill gaps in the business sector.”

Official statistics show that 460,352 foreign workers were employed until the second quarter, amounting to roughly 77 per cent of the labour force.

But at the end of the day, salaries drive the system. Bahrainis say they cannot afford to live with the low wages businesses pay foreign workers. Also jobs in the tourism industry are not welcome because they may mean serving alcohol.

Bahrainis, particularly from the Shia community, remain skeptical and suggest that factors unrelated to their skills are the real cause of unemployment.

“Shia are still second-class citizens,” says Ali Abdel Imam, political activist and blogger. He cites the scholarships and job positions, which he says favour Sunni candidates over Shia. In a job application to be an army nurse, his sister was required to specify her religious sect. She never heard back, he says.

“The gang that controls the decision-making is sectarian, that is the problem,” he says.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Royal Order " FOUNDING A NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHT ESTABLISHMENT"

Today the king issued an order to founding a national human right establishment, from the first look you will like the idea if you know nothing about Bahrain, and if you think that the reform project is still in progress, but if you know the fact, if you know the real Bahrain, you will understand the game and how its been played

i don't give a shit about establishment , i will just highlight one point that its important for me , its very important for me any human right organization should be isolated from the governments support and interventions, this establishment issued by the king him self, and assigned tasks will be brought to this establishment only by the king or the government , no indvidsual caces should go to them, its written clearly in the royal order

"5 - THE REFRENCE...
HIS MAJESTY AND THE CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITIES IN THE KINGDOM CAN DIRECT THE ESTABLISHMENT ON ISSUES RELATED TO ITS TASKS AND SHOW THEIR VIEWS."

we as NGOs don't have the right to talk to this establishment, its only the king and the constitutional authorities , and at the end the establishment have the right to SHOW THEIR VIEWS nothing more views

do you know now why i am disapointing from this regim

Friday, November 06, 2009

Why its either ME or OTHERS

whenever its time for freedom of expression or thinking, the equasion became is either me ( my self) or others ( family, friends, society) and why is that equasion at the begening, i like to be free in thinking, i like to have my own ideas and my own believes , faith, pictures ,,etc, whenever i think about i am already programmed that there are others who i should care about what they are going to say about this idea, or that believe, why i programmed to think about them, and forgetten my self, the others became the first priority and me is the second, i should live in Contradiction for my life to go smooth, people doesnt accept you to be out of the box, they insist you shoud inside the stupid box, that box they Inherited from their old generations and they want to deliever it to the next generations without changes !!!
all of what i am asking is to be free, nothing more, nothing less, freedom of expression,

some times i am thinking is it wrong with me or with the others