New traffic laws banning some motorists from the roads in Bahrain are driving expats mad.
The laws stop expats from getting behind the wheel unless their job requires they must drive – and expats have to apply for a local driving licence if they want to stay mobile no more than three months after arriving in the country.
The announcement has outraged thousands of expats in the tiny country with a population of not much more than 1.2 million of whom 56% – around 675,000 – are expats.
The prosed law has split the community, with thousands of workers fearing they will not be able to support their families if they cannot get to work.
The problem is made worse as Bahrain has a poor public transport system, so banning drivers leaves expats isolated and unable to travel any great distance.
Discrimination
“Expats are guests in this country and this is not the way you treat a guest,” said Marietta Dias, of the Migrant Workers Protection Society. “This is discrimination at its worst and makes Bahrain look bad in the eyes of the world.”
Other expat support groups claim they have been flooded with complaints and protests about the proposals.
Lawyers are also concerned the law is unconstitutional and breaches the human rights of expats.
“Many expats are in a panic and expect their driving licences to be revoked,” said Betsy Mathieson, of the Bahrain Federation of Expatriate Associations.
MPs inserted the clause into a bill before the Bahrain parliament because they consider most traffic offences are committed by expats, and by removing them from the roads, the number of accidents and violations will fall dramatically.
Unconstitutional
Besides banning expats from driving, other clauses include draconian penalties for minor traffic infringements – for instance jumping a red light could end as six months in prison or a fine of up to £790.
The law has been on the backburner for at least seven years, but is likely to be passed within months.
However, expats are appealing to Bahrain’s King Hamad to strike out the offending clause on the grounds the law is unconstitutional.
Meanwhile, in Saudi Arabia, the government has announced ‘expat only’ desks at airports to ease queuing.
The country has an expat population of around 9 million out of 30 million people.
The government is also embarking on a program to build or redevelop 25 airports to upgrade international and internal air travel and will include the expat channels as part of the modernisation.
