During the days of protests in Bahrain, pro-regime media outlets covered extensively the xenophobic attacks attributed to opposition elements against migrant workers in Bahrain. Pro-regime outlets used the attacks on south-Asian workers in an attempt to present the oppressed protesters as the viole…
Archive for the ‘Gulf’ Category
Bahrain Further Restricts Migrant Rights while Publicly Expressing Concern for Migrants
June 29th, 2011
UAE: Two Suicides of Ethiopian Women in One Day
June 15th, 2011
The epidemic of suicides of migrant workers in the UAE continues unabated: on June 13, UAE papers reported about two suicides of Ethiopian migrant workers. At 4pm on June 11, police rushed to a house in Ras al-Khaimah where a 29-year-old Ethiopian maid attempted to end her life by overdosing on pill...
Migrant rights group welcomes Saudi’s alternative punishments
June 14th, 2011
Legal cases Prison Prisoners Saudi Arabia
Migrante-Middle East, an alliance of Filipino migrants rights providing assistance to distress, run away, stranded and jailed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) today said it lauded the plan by the Saudi government in crafting alternative punishments for crime offenders. Citing local reports, Migrante...
Kuwait: Minister Rejects Off-Days for Maids on Account of Tradition
June 11th, 2011
Housemaids Kuwait Legislation Sponsorship
Kuwait has always been heavily criticized for the treatment of migrant workers and the little attention media and the government give this serious issue. On the 9th of June, al-Qabas newspaper reported a statement taken by Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) of the Minister of justice and social affairs Moham...
Domestic Workers Raped, Murdered and Commit Suicide in Kuwait
June 11th, 2011
Abusive employers Death Housemaids Kuwait Rape Suicide
Since the 24th of May, no updates have appeared on the case of an Ethiopian maid who has accused her sponsor of raping her. This maid, as reported by the Kuwaiti Al-Watan daily, was able to escape her sponsor’s house after he had raped her, and went to her embassy which sent her to the police ...
Kuwait: Law Preventing Working Outdoors during the Summer
June 11th, 2011
Abusive employers Kuwait Legislation Working conditions
Walking for minutes outside in the summer of Kuwait is an unpleasant experience, people often complain. Kuwaitis keep grumbling about the high temperature that reaches 60 °C in the summer, even though they drive air conditioned cars. On the other hand, migrant workers, especially those in the const...
Migrant groups hail adoption of Domestic workers Convention
June 8th, 2011
An alliance of overseas Filipino workers rights group today hails the adoption of the Domestic Workers Convention saying that it is ‘a landmark international instrument that would pave the way to protecting domestic workers’ well being, rights and welfare.” A report from Mr. Eman Villanueva, v...
Thorough review, evaluation of OFWs deployment in MENA sought
June 8th, 2011
A Filipino migrant workers’ group Wednesday urges the Philippine government through the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to conduct a thorough review and evaluation of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) deployment in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). “Conducting a thorou...
Modern-Day Slave Trade in Kuwaiti Papers
June 6th, 2011
Housemaids Kuwait Recruitment Agencies Slavery Trafficking
Below is an article that appeared in the Kuwaiti daily al-Qabas last month about the abuses domestic workers in the Kingdom suffer and the “slave trade” of domestic workers from one sponsor to another or from recruitment agencies to Kuwaitis. We present the English translation of this un...
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