After spending another year documenting abuses of migrant workers in the Middle East, it’s time that we look back at the most significant, influential and important stories that we’ve covered.
1. Death of Domestic Migrant Workers in Lebanon
This story is significant not just because of t…
Archive for the ‘Legislation’ Category
Top 5 Migrants’ Rights Stories in the Middle East for 2009
January 2nd, 2010
Bahrain Housemaids Kuwait Lebanon Legislation MR Site Sponsorship Suicide UAE Working conditions
HRW Overview of Migrant Workers Rights in the Middle East in 2009
December 20th, 2009
Egypt Housemaids Israel Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Legislation Saudi Arabia Sponsorship Suicide UAE
Human Rights Watch (HRW) published last week a summary of the reports and research they’ve conducted over the last year on migrant rights. The end-year report highlighted the lack of protection of migrant workers in many Middle Eastern countries. In Kuwait, the report focused on the Sponsorshi...
List of proposed solutions to insure the rights of foreign maids in Lebanon
December 17th, 2009
Housemaids Lebanon Legislation Sponsorship
The following is a listing solutions and measures meant to secure the fundamental rights of female migrant domestic workers in Lebanon. These proposals have been collected in reports, studies and press releases from Human Right Watch, the International Labour Organization and Caritas-Lebanon. They a...
Kuwait’s Parliament to Vote on a New Labor Law that Grants Migrant Workers More Rights
December 5th, 2009
Kuwait Legislation Sponsorship
Kuwait’s parliament is expected to vote this week on a new labor law for the private sector. The draft of the law significantly increases the rights of most migrant workers in Kuwait. It included limiting the working hours of workers to 40 per week, prolonging maternity leaves and vacations, a...
Lebanon’s Minister of Interior makes promises to improve migrant rights
December 3rd, 2009
Housemaids Lebanon Legislation Prison
On December 1st, Ziad Baroud, Lebanon’s Minister of Interior, informed the ambassadors of Philippine, Ethiopia and Sri Lanka that his ministry will be taking steps towards the protection of migrant domestic workers in Lebanon. Such steps include moving the General Security prisons from Adlieh area...
Why does the investigation of the “suicide” of migrant workers ends at “record speed”, asks Al-Akhbar
November 26th, 2009
Housemaids Lebanon Legislation Suicide Working conditions
Al-Akhbar newspaper published today a front page article on the suicide cases in the past 6 weeks. It raises questions as to the speed with which the Lebanese investigators conclude that the death was due to suicide of the migrant worker, even in cases when the body is bruised for reasons other than...
Three months after the Sponsorship system in Bahrain was “scrapped”, what really changed?
November 11th, 2009
Bahrain Legislation Sponsorship
It seems that the pronouncements about “abolishing” the sponsorship (kafala) system in Bahrain were premature. At best, the changing of Bahrain’s labor laws can be described as a easing of the rules. The changes to Bahrain’s Labour Market Regulatory Law, which were made in Ap...
Philippine Lawmakers Mull Ban on Middle East Labour
November 10th, 2009
The Philippines may resort to banning the deployment of workers to Middle Eastern countries due to abuse by employers, according to a report made public by a team of lawmakers this week. (See full story in The Inquirer here) Philippina housemaids working in Middle Eastern countries are ‘moder...
Kuwait plans to abolish the sponsorship system in a new labor law
October 10th, 2009
Kuwait Legislation News Sponsorship
Mohammad Al Afassi, Kuwait’s Social Affairs and Labour Minister, declared that the draft of Kuwait’s new labor law will abolish the sponsorship system, Gulf News reported earlier this week. Instead of the sponsorship system, a non-profit authority (assuming, a governmental authority) wil...
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