The Serbian circus artist, Alexandra Gilajak filed a complaint with the General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions about the conditions of her work in Bahrain, which led her to her recent tragic situation because of malnutrition and because she has nowhere to live, after being expelled from her apartment, deprived of her salary for several months, as her sponsor left her and refrained from paying her fees.
Gilajak said that she was malnourished due to the poor living conditions she had had, after her employer’s failure to renew her residency in Bahrain, turning her status into illegal.
The 41-year-old artist was recruited among eight artists to work in the circus through two Bahraini brothers. However, her colleagues left Bahrain, while she decided to stay and defend her right. In fact, she lodged a complaint to the Ministry of Labor and Social Development, the Tourism and Exhibition Authority and the National Human Rights Foundation, but she didn’t receive any answer.
After her layoff, Gilajak contacted the Migrant Workers Protection Center of the Labor Market to find shelter for her, however, the headquarters official refused to speak about the possibility of finding shelter for her when she was asked by the press.
Gilajak noted that she is now shocked, after being almost enslaved working without salaries. In fact, she discovered later that she was fooled by the people who employed her, when they gave her a business visa that does not allow her to have a salary. It was a trick from the employers to disavow any labor relationship.
Commenting on the subject, the representative of the General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions, Karim Ridha, said that the union is trying to help these victims in accordance with the law, but he pointed out that this type of work is not covered by the law. He expressed that the labor law requires additions to define these works based on a different nature, noting that this type of work is not characterized by permanence and stability in the number of working hours, place and nature of work, which is one of the worst jobs of which the worker becomes a victim.
#Serbian #circus #artist #complaint #General_Federation_of-Bahrain_Trade_Unions
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