Bahraini author’s ringside view of expats

A closer look into the lives of expat workers through modern Arabic literature is an affirmative step towards unraveling stories inspired by real lives, and that is what Bahraini writer Jaffer Salman aimed to do when he wrote his book “Ashbah Al Bashr.”

He has worked on the book for three-and-a-half months. Speaking to DT News, Jaffer Salman said, “Every single story in the book is real, factual events of people that happened in Bahrain. I reckon no one has ever wrote about these people. They are barely humanised as people don’t really consider the stories behind them.”

He commented: “We fail as a society to notice these people as they are almost invisible to us. Expat issues happening in Bahrain are probably similar to the issues happening in the GCC.”

The book explores stories of expat workers from Indian sub continental countries as Jaffer reasoned that “some Asian expat workers like the Filipino expat workers have a support system like the media, the embassy and some recognition of their rights, whereas this is not always the case with other expats.”

The book also takes a closer look at examples of issues surrounding unpaid salaries, overworking conditions, housemaids and waitresses pushed into prostitution and unofficial brothels.

He explained: “In this book, I try to have a wider look and shed lights on the problem. Some expats from these cultures accept suffering because ill treatment doesn’t start here, it starts at home.”

“Many literature produced in the region is centered on fictional, love and ghost stories. For me as a writer, I have to feel and see what I write to actually perceive these stories directly and I insist on writing books about people, reality and things we don’t want to talk about. This is an education I want to create for our society,” Jaffer elaborated.

Jaffer Salman plans to launch another book in February about Zanzibar to explore the historical facts about it.