What is the situation regarding migration in Bahrain?
Prior to the 70s, migration was a limited phenomenon. Most of the migrant workers came from Gulf countries. Since Bahrain was the first Arab country to discover oil, in 1932, the industry developed earlier than in the other countries in the region, so we received migrant workers from nearby countries such as Oman. When the oil industry developed elsewhere in the Gulf, Bahrain became a departure country, with Bahraini workers going to other parts of the region as they were already experienced in the oil industry and were attracted by the better salaries abroad, where there was more oil than in Bahrain. Huge economic development followed the boom in oil prices in the mid seventies, especially in construction. The demand for migrant workers was immense. They came from Asia, mainly India, South Korea, Bangladesh, the Philippines… 60% of our workforce is currently composed of migrant workers. The proportion is high, but not as high as in other countries in the region, like the United Arab E
