Lebanon witnessed two cases of suicide last week alone. The blog Ethiopian Suicides catalogs many Ethiopian deaths in Lebanon as the country possesses a large Ethiopian population, as well as a dismal record of migrant rights. Both cases involved a Lebanese domestic worker hanging herself in an employer’s home – almost certainly the source of their misery.

Another Ethiopian woman hung herself in her sponsor’s home in Saudi Arabia, where paltry workers rights and neglected conditions also have a history of pushing maids to commit suicide. Police are investigating the incident according to routine procedure, though the causes of suicide are generally standard themselves – as are the effectively nonexistent punishment for abusive employers.

In Kuwait, where disregard for the plight of domestic workers appears normalized, a woman unsuccessfully attempted to overdose with items from employer’s house. Police investigations have again commenced to determine the woman’s motivation – as if the reasons for her agony could be separated from the life that sponsors almost entirely dictate and create. Another domestic worker attempted to commit suicide in her sponsor’s home as well, but was ‘thwarted’ by police, who then proceeded to interrogate her.

These suicides and suicide attempts come amidst promises for substantive legal change made by many countries; Kuwait agreed to increase the minimum wage for domestic workers, Saudi has promised more protections for its workers, and Lebanon’s minister announced the Kafala system’s forthcoming abolishment. Whether these agreements affect the lives of domestic workers and mitigate the conditions that preempt suicide – or whether they are lost into abyss of broken treaties and pacts – will, at least tangentially, be measured by this year’s suicide rate.

In late December, a maid was found hanging in her sponsor’s home. In January, three migrants committed suicide. One maid hung herself inside her room. A man also hung himself in his room. Another maid poisoned herself by consuming insecticide. Suicide is often the last resort for abused migrants who feel they have no other escape.

On New Years Eve, a Kuwaiti woman was charged for beating her maid to death.

Police investigations for each case are still in progress.

Migrant abuse represents a perpetual pattern in Kuwait. Measures are sometimes taken against specific instances of abuse, but there are rarely any attempts to address the chronic mistreatment of migrants.

Pursuing a holistic understanding of the crime demonstrates the unnecessary burden these measures represent. The maid in question revealed that the family’s abuse motivated her to seek revenge against the young woman. Her mistreatment and abuse do not legitimize murder, but they provide the context in which the seemingly inconceivable events can be understood. Whether the family’s mistreatment inflicted psychological damage on the maid, or whether she felt suffocated because few options exist to redress employer abuse, are yet unknown. But to disregard the role of migrant mistreatment in this case perpetuates the dangerous tendency to systematically ignore abuse, which only fosters such unstable employer and employee relationships. The likelihood that any psychological damage occurred after the maid’s regular abuse is high, rendering evaluations before migrants are subjected to these working conditions superfluous and ineffective.

The brutal beheading of the young female is deplorable, but the community and wider government response must take care to avoid collectively punishing migrants for one woman’s actions. Additionally, the quick and extensive measures taken by authorities are extreme compared to the inaction observed in cases involving migrant deaths. The Kuwaiti government should enforce equal justice and the rule of law for all people, regardless of their citizenship, social status, or ethnicity.

The conception of maids as disposable units of labor sanctions their inhumane treatment. Murder itself may not be normalized, but the attitudes and “casual”abuses that escalate into such violent behavior do seem to be tolerated. The absence of legal protections for domestic workers positions them in an even more vulnerable position. The reports of violence towards domestic workers that resurface weekly demonstrate that this case involves much more than a single unscrupulous man; Just last week, a sponsor broke the nose of an Ethiopian maid. Three weeks earlier, an Indonesian maid committed suicide after absconding from an abusive employer.

The attention paid to these cases by Gulf media outlets is a significant step forward in
acknowledging and ultimately correcting human rights abuses. The more these stories are featured, the more that the apathy and the unintended tolerance of these crimes are overpowered – and eventually, the less horrifying stories there exist to be told.

While details of this woman’s case are still unknown, migrant suicides in custody can be better understood in the context of the general vulnerabilities they face in Gulf legal systems; the difficulty in maneuvering about a system in a foreign language, and in securing representation or other legal aid, compounds the tendency towards unfair migrant treatment to generate extraordinarily uncertain and frightening situations for detained migrants. While a complexity of factors drive an individual to commit suicide, the overwhelming powerlessness of custody can, for some, signify the tipping point.

Though the circumstances her death are largely speculative without a complete investigation, it’s worth noting the innocuous nature of her arrest; she was imprisoned for absconding from her sponsors, a “crime” which in itself reflects the inequitable nature of the Kuwaiti justice system.

Recently, the Philippines announced plans to ban its workers from nations non-compliant with the International Labour Organization’s Migrant Act. If the efforts prompted by their threats genuinely improve migrant worker-related regulation, then both sides could avoid the economic disruptions that accompany travel and employment bans.

Kuwait is reported to have agreed to review the Migrant Workers Act and to consider a bilateral labor agreement. The UAE has promised to implement protections for domestic workers, after adopting the ILO’s charter in June. These measures include certain guarantees such as a weekly vacation day and monthly cash salary, as well as improved government responsiveness to employer disputes.

Whether host nations fulfill their promises, and whether the Philippine government remains stringent with their proclaimed labor standards, will be evident in six months – when the Employment Administration at last produces its final evaluations.

The Arab Times reports here on a 39-year old Indian worker who has died. Her body was found in her sponsor’s house after -it is presumed- that she committed suicide. A case was filed- let us hope it is a little more hopeful than the tons of previous other cases filed time and again.

On the same note, it was reported that another Asian- nationality not specified- has died. One of his flatmates called the police to say he was found unconscious in the house. No cause of death has yet been identified.

Also in the Arab Times, a similair incident of a Sri Lankan maid’s attempted suicide is reported. She cut her wrist but the employer caught her bleeding and called the police before the situation became more tragic.

Yet another story relating to clorox. An Indian domestic worker has also died drinking clorox. It was reported that she “mistakenly” drank the substance and that thereby, this is not close in any way to be a planned suicide.

Also in Kuwait, a Filipina domestic worker testifies how her employer was going to “gauge out her eyes”. Angela had been subjected to systematic torture (beating with iron, food deprivation, broken nose, amongst other injuries) in the months she has served at her employer. She says she was treated as an animal throughout her employment term before she succeeded in escaping. Her employer forgot to lock the door that day. She is partially blind now.

Suicide amongst domestic workers in Kuwait is an extremely common tragedy. One only needs to scan through the various cases and endless reports to witness this outrageous pattern that remains unaddressed by the Kuwaiti government. It requires an immediate and cautious intervention or at this rate, it is possible that these statistics will haunt Kuwait’s history forever.

Al-Ansari said that the government committees are not the ones to blame for not accomplishing those projects, but the delay is instead the result of a democratic process, referring to the Kuwaiti parliament which, according to the constitution, is the one to decide and approve laws and plans.

Al-Ansari did not forget to attack the United States for its negative report on Kuwait especially when it comes to human rights. He said the United States is just one side and that the United Nations does not share the same evaluation of Kuwait’s human rights status. He also referenced (despite the irrelevance) the commonality of prostitution in the US, and that because of this, the US is not in a position to criticize Kuwaitis for having maids living in their homes, doing house work. He also said that Mexican immigrants are persecuted in the United States, so the US has no right to criticize Kuwait.

The violation of human rights of migrant workers, including human trafficking in Kuwait, are absolutely inexcusable and it is irrelevant to compare Kuwait to any other country to justify its own human rights abuses.