Thousands of migrant workers from Nasser S. Al Hajri Corporation W.L.L (NSH), Gulf Asia Contracting Company LLC, and Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO), staged a nearly week-long protest in Bahrain over poor working and living conditions, resulting in violent reprisal from the companies' security personnel and the police. 

According to sources, the workers were complaining about several issues, including unsafe working conditions, unhygienic and crowded accommodation, non-payment of wages, and substandard food. The workers, hailing mainly from India and Nepal, initiated a strike on Tuesday, 7 September, after one of them allegedly had sunstroke and was hospitalised...

The companies, Nasser S. Al Hajri Corporation W.L.L and Gulf Asia Contracting Company LLC, are both owned and operated by the Indian billionaire tycoon Ravi Pillai. NSH is one of the biggest industrial contractors in the Gulf region, specializing mainly in the oil and gas, construction, and petrochemical sectors...

NSH and Gulf Asia Contracting Company LLC were contracted by Bapco along with a consortium of companies known as TTSJV, which is a joint venture of Italy’s TechnipFMC, South Korea’s Samsung Engineering, and Spain’s Tecnicas Reunidas, to undertake the multi-billion dollar project of expanding and upgrading Bapco’s existing refining facilities (Bapco Modernization Programme). It is unclear if the workers who went on strike included workers employed or managed by TTSJV.