28 March 2016 - The Philippine Embassy in Manama, in cooperation with the Philippine Overseas Labor Office – Overseas Workers Welfare Association (POLO-OWWA), conducted a forum on Human Trafficking and Women’s Rights in Bahrain at the Embassy lobby on March 16.

The forum was attended by 95 participants from various Filipino community organizations, together with the Embassy personnel and its attached agencies. Ms. Faeza Ashraf Khan of Bahrain’s Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA), Head of the LMRA Expatriate Workers Protection Center and Shelte,r and General Secretary to the National Committee for Combatting Trafficking in Persons was invited as the guest speaker.

Philippine Ambassador to the Kingdom of Bahrain Alfonso A. Ver opened the forum by welcoming the members of the Filipino community and thanked Ms. Khan for gracing the forum as the main speaker.

During her lecture, Ms. Khan discussed the LMRA’s programs which aim to reduce the vulnerability of expat workers to exploitation that may lead to trafficking in persons. She also talked about the services LMRA offers, such as providing protection and shelter for victims of trafficking. She emphasized that their shelter aims to become an internationally-recognized model center for combating trafficking in persons and safeguarding the rights of expat workers. She also provided details on how their programs help expat workers in distress and shared their Center’s experiences in helping Filipina workers. She also willingly answered questions from members of the Filipino community regarding the types of assistance and protection they can extend to workers in distress.

Ambassador Ver and Labor Attaché Cynthia Q. Lamban gave Ms. Khan a token of appreciation for her participation in the event. Ambassador Ver noted that the token was also meant to show the Philippines’ appreciation for Ms. Khan’s work in helping Filipinos in distress.

In closing the program, Consul Maria Paz G. Cortes encouraged the Filipino community members to share the information and knowledge learned during the forum to other members of the community in order to help empower kababayans in distress and those in vulnerable situations. END