The Globe and Mail published a report today about migrant rights in the Gulf region. While we welcome the attention the issue of migrant workers’ rights received by such a widely-read publication, it is important to challenge the narrative of the story that attempts to show how attitudes towar…
Archive for the ‘Sponsorship’ Category
On the Globe & Mail’s Optimistic Report about Migrant Rights in the Gulf
August 10th, 2010
Bahrain Gulf Housemaids Kuwait Legislation Sponsorship
The Media Line covers our report on suicides of migrants in Kuwait
August 5th, 2010
The Media Line (TML), a non-for-profit media organization reporting on the Middle East, reported today about our recent report on suicides of migrant workers in Kuwait over the months of June and July. TML approached experts from the International Labor Organization (ILO) and Kuwait University to co...
Emirati paper: UAE “unfairly” targeted for migrant rights abuses
June 15th, 2010
Sponsorship UAE Working conditions
A recent editorial in Gulf News, the UAE’s most popular English-language newspaper, lavishly praised the UAE’s treatment of migrant workers, ignoring the egregious human rights violation migrant workers are subjected to in the Emirates. The editorial highlighted the International Labor O...
Saudi Sponsors Punish Their Workers by Declaring Them as “Runaways”
May 6th, 2010
Abusive employers Saudi Arabia Sponsorship Working conditions
Below is a letter we received from the president of the Federation of Kerala Associations in Saudi Arabia (FOKASA). FOKASA is a social organization of Indians working in Saudi Arabia that regularly provides assistance to Indians deprived of their human rights. The letter brings to attention an issue...
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
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...
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 — ...
Saudi Arabia: Five Suicides by Migrant Workers Since the Beginning of April
April 13th, 2010
Housemaids Saudi Arabia Sponsorship Suicide
Following a bloody month in March in Saudi Arabia when four migrants ended their lives or attempted to do so, April is setting a new low record with five suicides or suicide attempts in just 11 days. This month, four workers committed suicide in Saudi Arabia and another was saved by paramedics after...
Kuwait Again Promises to Abolish the Sponsorship System, Set Minimum Wage for Migrants
April 2nd, 2010
Kuwait Legislation Sponsorship
Kuwait’s Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Dr. Mohammed Al-Afasi announced this week the government’s intention to set a minimum wage for expatriate workers. In addition, Al-Afasi said that his ministry is in the process of creating an independent labor authority, which will eliminate...
Every Two Days a Migrant Worker Attempts or Commits Suicide in Kuwait
March 28th, 2010
Housemaids Kuwait Sponsorship Suicide Workers
As we at Migrant-Rights.org continue to monitor the situation of migrant workers in the Middle East, the frequent reports on cases of suicide by workers in Kuwait continue to draw our attention. We have previously covered the phenomenon when during November 2009 there were 13 reported cases of suici...
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