Four arrested after Bahrain migrant 'slap video' goes viral
Four arrested after Bahrain migrant 'slap video' goes viral
A video showing a man slapping an Asian migrant worker in Bahrain and has drawn attention to circumstances facing Asian expatriates in the country.
2 min read
A large proportion of Bahrain's workforce is made up of migrant workers [Pacific Press].
In a video, a Bahraini local forcefully is seen slapping an Asian migrant worker, and is cheered on by his friends behind the camera, as the victim, holding his hands to his face, is unable to react, and visibly shaken.
Yet it appears that the victim may have some redress, after the Bahraini police arrested four men, believed to be the attacker and those filming the incident, according to local media reports on Sunday.
The brief video, which only features the attacker and the victim, has been spread widely in the Gulf island state, and has even attracted the attention of the country's foreign minister, Khalid al-Khalifa.
“He came all the way from his country, putting up with estrangement and separation from family to work so hard for some money,” Khalifa wrote on Twitter. “And then, a despicable person comes along and slaps him. May God grant him his rights from the aggressor.”
Bahrain, which has faced unrest since a 2011 protest movement was violently crushed by security forces, with the aid of Saudi Arabia, has seen abuses directed against the country's opposition, who are mostly Shia, leading some to label the reaction to the video hypocritical.
A video from 2012 appears to show a Bahraini police officer slap a civilian holding a child, with no apparent punishment meted out to the officer.
Migrant workers face abuse and discrimination from both sides of the Bahraini political divide, which a 2012 report by Human Rights Watch highlighted.
HRW said the government needed to “vigorously enforce” the rights of migrant workers, who are often abused by private individuals, despite the law being favourable to them.
Violations recorded include a failure to pay wages and the withholding of workers' passports.
There were also violent attacks by government opponents towards migrants recorded in 2011, leading to the death of one Pakistani citizen.
According to HRW there were 458,000 migrant workers in Bahrain in 2012, making up 77 percent of the total work force in the country.
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