Construction workers building a luxury island resort in Abu Dhabi which is to house branches of the Guggenheim Museum and New York University are underpaid and abused, according a human rights investigation. Indian labourers working on the $18 billion development are subject to a system of bonded la…
Archive for May, 2009
New Emirates Advert: Construction Worker ‘Praises’ UAE Labour Conditions
May 20th, 2009
A 24-year old Indian construction worker, Sudahkar Golem, is the face of a Emirates Airlines’ latest advertising campaign. ‘Meet Sudakar. Meet Dubai’, reads the poster, which shows Mr Golem near the top of the Burj Dubai, the tallest building in the world. The campaign emphasises t...
Nagesh Kukunoor’s ‘Dor’: a tale of migration and connection
May 18th, 2009
General Gulf Legal cases Saudi Arabia
I just wanted to share with readers of M-R.org a wonderful Hindi film, ‘Dor’ (2006) which paints a vivid and moving picture of the struggles of migration from India to the Gulf. The word ‘dor’ roughly translates as ‘thread’ and refers to the strings of human exper...
ILO Report: Exploitation Costs Migrants $21 bn a Year
May 13th, 2009
Corrupt recruitment practices cheat migrant workers out of $21 billion each year, according to an ILO report released on Tuesday. Construction workers, domestics, seasonal labourers and drivers are caught in a system of modern day slavery, according to the report, which cites “collusion betwe...
Human Rights Group Praises Bahrain’s Plans to Scrap Sponsorship
May 12th, 2009
The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) has praised the government’s decision to abolish the sponsorship system, which binds expatriates’ right to work and reside in the Kingdom to the permission of their sponsor. The sponsorship system has long been criticized by human rights groups ...
Bangladeshi Worker Abused by Sponsor
May 12th, 2009
This story in itself is a good argument in favour of Bahrain’s decision to abolish the sponsorship system: A Bangladeshi worker was brutally beaten by his sponsor when he asked for his wages, according to this report in The Weekly Blitz (Bangladesh). Akteruzzaman Akhter, who worked as a pipe f...
Kids to learn about migrant workers through Arabic storybook series
May 7th, 2009
General Housemaids Lebanon Racism Women
A series of Arabic-language storybooks has been launched in Lebanon to educate children about migrant workers. The series, called ‘Mimi and her Magic Globe’, takes readers on a journey to the homelands of migrant workers, including Sri Lanka, Ethiopia and the Philippines. The books were ...
Bahrain Scraps Sponsorship System
May 6th, 2009
Bahrain is to get rid of its sponsorship law which binds foreign workers to their employers as of August 1st this year. Human rights campaigners have welcomed the ruling, which will offer increased protection to migrant workers who have currently have no choice but to remain with employers that are ...
UAE Torture Tape Prince Accused of 25 More Cases of Abuse
May 5th, 2009
A wealthy UAE Prince, Sheikh Issa Bin Zayed al Nayhan has been implicated in a scandal involving a tape of him torturing a Afghan businessman who allegedly cheated him in a grain deal. The videotape was leaked to the US by US-based businessman Bassam Nablusi, a former business parter of Sheikh Issa....
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