Last week, CNN featured a collection of photography illuminating the ‘ghost’-like existence of migrant workers in the UAE. Photographer Philippe Chancel calls these cheap laborers “new slaves,” who underpin the Gulf’s hyper-development yet remain marginalized by society. His photog…
Archive for the ‘Workers’ Category
Murder in Kuwait
November 18th, 2011
Abusive employers Death Kuwait
An Ethiopian maid was murdered by her employer on Tuesday. The man beat her for over a week because she allegedly refused to work, and her injuries were so severe that she suffered from internal bleeding. She collapsed after arguing with the man while he attempted to “return” her to the recruit...
Lebanon: Suicide of an Ethiopian Domestic Worker in Tyr
November 16th, 2011
According to Lebanon’s National News Agency, an Ethiopian worker, Janet M. K., hung herself today using a laundry rope from the ceiling of the house of her employer in Bazourieh in Tyr, South Lebanon. This suicides comes one day after CNN produced a damning report on abuse of domestic workers ...
Indonesia reevaluates bans, Saudi Arabia & related policies
November 14th, 2011
The Philippine’s 41-country ban (and subsequent deferral) made a splash last week, sparking discourse among different government agencies, migrants, and activist organizations. Though critics deemed the measures superficial, the sheer number of countries blacklisted have invigorated demands for mo...
The Philippines withdraws ban on the deployment of Filipino workers to 41 countries with poor working standards
November 9th, 2011
This post is contributed to Migrant-Rights.org by Khara Jabola. One week today, on November 2, 2011, the Philippines banned labor deployment to 41 migrant-hostile countries owing to their failure to pass certification standards set by the amended Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995. T...
Saudi Limits Remittances
October 27th, 2011
Saudi Arabia announced recently that it will limit the income migrant workers are permitted to send home. The Labour Minister stated the new “Salary Protection Program” will prevent the ‘exodus’ of wealth leaving the nation in the form of remittances. He did not specify the p...
30 Distressed Filipino workers seek repatriation
October 24th, 2011
Abusive employers Gulf Housemaids Oman Recruitment Agencies Trafficking Women
There are 30 plus distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), all women, in Oman temporarily seeking refuge at the Philippine Embassy’s Filipino Workers Resource Center (FWRC), according to a Filipino migrants rights group providing assistance to distressed and abused OFWs. Migrante-Middle East r...
Suicide of Detained Migrant Prompts Investigation
October 23rd, 2011
General Kuwait Prisoners Suicide
The suicide of an Indonesian maid in Kuwaiti custody is drawing questions about the conditions of her imprisonment.The woman hung herself with her scarf, her severed neck indicating that she had not been checked up on for days. Current accounts of the case are conflicting; one reports that security ...
UN urges Lebanon to Protect Domestic Workers
October 20th, 2011
The UN’s Special Rapporteur on modern day slavery is urging Lebanon to address the plight of its domestic workers. Gulnara Shahinian recounted conditions of the migrants she met in Lebanon; sexual abuse, contract violations, unfair hours, and domestic servitude regularly punctuated their exper...
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