Efforts are underway to reduce the numbers of expatriates employed by Bahrain’s government, according to a minister.

Minister of State for Parliament and Shura Council Affairs Abdulaziz Al Fadhel revealed a total of 6,682 expatriates were employed by the government at the end of last year, according to a report in the Gulf daily News, our sister publication.

Al Fadhel, who is answerable for the Civil Service Bureau (CSB), told MPs yesterday said their contracts were valid for two years and were renewed at the request of the employer.

"The priority is for Bahrainis and we don't favour expatriates for any reason over nationals," he said in reply to a question by parliament legislative and legal affairs committee chairman Ali Al Ateesh.

"We don't advertise for vacancies to expatriates until we reach a point where there is no qualified Bahraini for the post and the bureau was already working on plans to reduce numbers of expatriates in government jobs and allow more Bahrainis in.

"For example, there are certain specialisations in the educational sector that we have no Bahrainis for and in other cases some expatriates are being brought to do lower ranking jobs that Bahrainis don't want to do,” he added. – TradeArabia News Service