A new Human Rights Watch (HRW) report about the rights of migrant domestic workers focused heavily on the Middle East, and for a good reason: most regional governments do not include domestic workers under the protection of its labor laws, and the current regulations leave domestic workers open to e…
Archive for April, 2010
Migrant Domestic Workers in the Middle East: Exploited, Abused and Ignored
April 30th, 2010
Abusive employers Bahrain Housemaids Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Legislation Racism Rape Saudi Arabia Sponsorship Suicide Trafficking UAE Working conditions
Interview with Kesang Tseten, maker of ‘In Search of the Riyal’
April 26th, 2010
Gulf Interviews Kuwait Qatar Working conditions
Kesang Tseten is a film maker based in Kathmandu who has worked on a number of projects documenting the lives of Nepali workers in the Gulf. He is currently working on Saving Dolma, a documentary about migrant workers in Kuwait. Kesang met with Migrant Rights editor Sophia Furber in Kathmandu to dis...
Bill Clinton Claims the UAE Passed Legislation Giving Migrants “a Better Deal”
April 24th, 2010
Housemaids Sponsorship UAE Working conditions
In a recent interview to ABC’s “This Week” former US President Bill Clinton claimed that the UAE passed laws to give “imported workers… a better deal”. This statement is wrong on many levels, moral and factual. Here is the full quote (emphasis ours): The — ...
Kuwaiti police stands idly by as a sponsor beats his worker
April 24th, 2010
Abusive employers Kuwait Legal cases
A Kuwaiti sponsor was seen beating his Asian worker with an iron rod near the Indian Embassy in Kuwait City as the police did nothing to stop him, the Arab Times reported this week. The worker went to the embassy to seek protection from his abusive sponsor, but did not reach his destination when his...
Philippines Brings 651 ‘Distressed’ Workers Home From the Gulf
April 23rd, 2010
The Philippine government has flown 651 of its nationals back from the Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE, as part of an ongoing campaign to bring ‘distressed’ migrant workers back from the Gulf. President Arroyo was at Ninoy Aquino International airport today to welcome back the returne...
UN High Commissioner in Bahrain; Migrant Rights on the Agenda
April 22nd, 2010
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillai is in Bahrain today as part of her 10-day tour of the GCC countries. Bahraini human rights activists will be attending a high-level meeting with Pillai in Manama this evening, according to this article from The Gulf Daily News: There are a number ...
Unpaid Pakistani Workers Stranded in Saudi Arabia for Years
April 21st, 2010
Four Pakistani workers have been stranded in Saudi Arabia without pay and accommodations for years as their health begins to deteriorate, the Arab Times reported today. The workers, Muhammad Aslam, Waris Hussain, Abdul Aziz Shakir and Khaled Parvez worked at a factory of a Saudi company in Jeddah. 1...
Safe Haven for Indonesian Migrant Babies
April 19th, 2010
Baby Nayla was born to an Indonesian migrant worker in the bathroom of a Saudi jail last year. Her mother, Rahma, who had been working as a maid, was raped after she left the house of her employer, who had been withholding her wages. , was jailed for not having any papers on her (they had been confi...
UN High Commisioner Highlights Gulf’s Poor Record on Migrant Rights
April 19th, 2010
Gulf News Saudi Arabia Workers
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillai spoke out against the GCC’s poor record on upholding the rights of migrant workers during a keynote speech at King Abdullah University for Science and Technology in Jeddah today. According to a press release from the UN she highlighted a number...
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