The case of two Kenyan mothers
Rose*, a Kenyan domestic worker, was “returned” to a recruitment agency in Manama after her employer no longer required her services. She told the agency that she could no longer afford to work without pay while waiting for another employer to hire her, and asked for permission to find work on her own.
After she returned to the agency, her sponsoring agent demanded BD600 (US$1,600) to issue a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for her to change sponsorship and get her confiscated passport back. With limited options, she decided to leave the agency and go live with her cousin. Eventually, she secured a casual cleaning job in a hotel in Manama.
Rose then became pregnant and quit her job at the hotel three months before her due date to focus on her health. In September 2023, she gave birth via Caesarean section at Salmania Hospital. Because she was an illegal immigrant, she was detained by authorities just a few days after giving birth.
“I gave birth on a Sunday, was taken to the police station on Tuesday and then sent to Hidd Transfer Centre two days later.”
Rose told MR that her baby was born prematurely and needed to be cared for in an incubator, during which she was taken to a detention center and not allowed near her child. She was finally reunited with her child at a deportation center a week after giving birth, where she spent two to three months.
Migrant representatives and community activists told MR that public health clinics and hospitals began reporting undocumented migrants to immigration authorities starting last year. This practice differs from reports MR previously documented, in which undocumented migrants were typically discharged from hospitals after giving birth or receiving other medical services without being reported to immigration authorities, unless a communicable disease was found. The government has yet to issue a public directive on the obligation of health care workers to report to immigration authorities.
Another Kenyan mother in the deportation centre, Mary*, worked as a domestic worker under difficult conditions with no days off. Five years ago, she decided to leave her employer’s home to take up a live-in cleaning job. After years of casual work in Bahrain, suffering wage theft and the rising cost of living, Mary and her two-year-old child voluntarily turned themselves in to the police station. A few days later, she was taken to Al-Hidd Deportation Centre.
Mary was forced to remain in a deportation centre for several months as Bahrain’s immigration authorities would not issue entry permits to children of migrant workers. As outlined in Article 27 of the Labour Market Regulatory Authority Law of 2006, the relevant department of the Ministry of Interior is responsible for carrying out deportations at the Labour Market Regulatory Authority’s expense. The Labour Market Regulatory Authority then recovers these costs from the worker’s last sponsor.
Bahrain’s deportation and residence regulations do not explicitly address the situation of migrant children, especially those who are undocumented and unsponsored. As a result, these children may spend extended periods in deportation centers with their mothers until migrant community groups, friends, or relatives can pay for their airfare. Bahraini authorities do not typically deport mothers without their minor children.
According to a Bahraini lawyer who spoke to MR, sponsors or governments have no legal obligation to cover the costs of deporting unsponsored migrant children. “In such cases, the migrant parents are expected to cover these costs.” However, the reality is that low-income migrants detained in deportation centers do not have the economic means to cover the costs associated with their children’s deportation. This includes not only the cost of the ticket, but also the registration fees at the Nationality, Passport and Residency Bureau and the fees for issuing emergency documents.
A local activist, who requested anonymity, believes the government should cover the costs in such cases on humanitarian grounds, adding: “Paying for the children’s airfare is not only more compassionate but also economically advantageous for the government. Given the food and housing costs that governments incur to host these families for long periods of time, the costs often exceed the cost of the airfare itself, especially considering that discounted airfares are usually available for minors.”
