As explained by Jabal (Bahrain Lawyer) Bahrain law seeks to protect workers from unscrupulous employers who fix large training amounts on their workers. "if a company in Bahrain trains you, you only have a commitment to them for one year"
This statement seems to be bandied about alot. It's correct that this is as per the Bahrain Labour Law, however the critical element that is over looked is that this clause is clearly stated as being applicable to Bahrain nationals only.
A legal opinion is that as the labour law is applicable to ALL employees in Bahrain, therefore it follows that this clause should be no different - however, this has to be established in a court of law. ie someone has to either defend themselves or take on the employer over this issue, and establish a legal precedent.
As far as I'm aware, this hasn't happened yet.