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…
Archive for the ‘Legal cases’ Category
Kuwait’s Parliament to Vote on a New Labor Law that Grants Migrant Workers More Rights
December 5th, 2009
Kuwait Legislation Sponsorship
Migrants Sue Qatari Employer for Holding Passports
December 3rd, 2009
A group of migrant workers in Qatar has taken out a lawsuit against their employer for illegally retaining their passports, according to this story in The Peninsula. The workers repeatedly asked their employer to hand over their passports, which they needed to carry out transactions in Qatar. Howev...
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...
Abusive Saudi Employer Keeps his Filipino Driver in Jail
November 28th, 2009
Abusive employers News Prisoners Saudi Arabia
We have received alarming news about a Filipino man who is currently jailed in Saudi Arabia after suffering months of abuse from his employer while working without pay. The man’s employer is not making any attempts to help his worker, trying to extort money from him. The man, R. M. (full name ...
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...
Israel: Employer sentenced to 8 years in prison for raping a Filipino worker
November 11th, 2009
Abusive employers Israel Legal cases Rape
An Israeli employer was sentenced to eight years in prison and a 25,000 NIS ($6,700) fine for raping and sexually harassing his Filipino worker, the Israeli news portal Walla reported earlier this week. The man, Moshe Ben Yehuda (58) from the small town of Olesh, sexually assaulted the Filipino woma...
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...
Human Rights Watch Criticizes Bahrain’s Government for not Protecting Abused Workers
November 4th, 2009
Abusive employers Bahrain Legal cases Sponsorship
Human Rights Watch criticized the Bahraini Labor Ministry today for not enforcing Bahraini law against employers who withhold wages and passports from their migrant workers. Instead of helping the workers to recover their wages, the government directs the migrant workers into an arbitration process ...
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