UKEF Scandal Exposes Bahrain Child Labour and Environment Damage

The UKEF or the United Kingdom Export Finance was recently accused of funding projects of organizations criticized for human rights as well as environmental abuse. The process used taxpayer money from state fund in order to finance overseas energy and infrastructure projects despite shady concerns with the respective companies.

UK Taxpayers Pay for Bahrain’s Abusive Economy

Most of the funding provided by UKEF to projects across globe were from the Middle East. The countries included were Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain, which were commonly involved in human rights abuses against their workers, while some were even accused of environmental damage.

The British government has been reported of rendering £5bn+ funds in the last three years of span to global projects from the energy and infrastructure sector. The claims of labour abuses and environmental damage committed by the funded companies were confirmed through documents and anonymous interviews conducted with the respective workers.

The funding to Bahrain’s Bapco, like other firms, comprised of a mix of guarantees and loans that were provided by the UK government’s credit agency – UK Export Finance (UKEF), which is originally meant to help British companies to get access of overseas business contracts. Other than Middle East, countries in the African and Asian continents were part of the funding project since 2019, as per the disclosures made by UKEF.

The UKEF was well aware of the environmental and human rights issues associated with Bapco, since it undertook a review of the projects before granting them the funding. Yet, recommendations to resolve the issues were overlooked as per the migrant workers who were associated with the Bahrain Petroleum Company. The workers revealed meagre payment, safety hazards, excessive work hours and the denial of freedom of movement at Bapco, as some of the persistent issues besides others.

In a review conducted by UKEF before awarding precisely £552,663,117.27 to Bapco in 2019, the Bahrain Petroleum Company project was flagged for “forced and child labour and worker health and safety as potential project risks”.

According to a worker from Bapco, he received the equivalent of £1.90 for an hour, which wasn’t enough for supporting family of two young daughters and a wife in India. He said, “The salary is not fair. I need more overtime because of my family.” “None of us wants to speak up and say it’s hazardous, we are too afraid”, he further added.

Since, most of UKEF’s funded projects were based in the Middle East, there workers were subjected to the limitations of kafala sponsorship system such as, freedom of movement, deemed as an abusive and exploitative act by renowned rights group, Human Rights Watch.

When reached out, Bapco did not comment. However, a UKEF spokesperson said, “We are aware of the issues recently highlighted to us regarding workers’ rights on these projects and are taking them extremely seriously.”