Construction companies in the UAE have been issued a warning by the Ministry of Labour over labour camp overcrowding, after recent inspections showed that some firms had crammed over 40% more workers into camps in an attempt to cut costs.
Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting with private companie…
Archive for the ‘Working conditions’ Category
Overcrowding in Dubai Labour Camps
March 3rd, 2009
General News UAE Working conditions
Interview with Nick McGeehan from Mafiwasta
January 18th, 2009
Abusive employers General Slavery UAE
Migrant Rights talks to Nick McGeehan, founding member of human rights group Mafiwasta, set up in 2005 to bring to attention abuses of migrant workers in the Gulf. Mafiwasta currently focuses on the UAE, but hopes to expand its work to other countries in the region in future. Mafi is Arabic for ‘...
No Action on Bahrain Open Truck Ban
January 4th, 2009
Bahrain Gulf Workers Working conditions
Bahrain has postponed the implementation of a ban on the dangerous practice of transporting construction workers to and from work in open trucks after protests from private companies. The ban was meant to come into effect on January 1st 2009, but was shouted down by businessmen who claimed that the ...
‘Gulf Arabs value profit over people’: Migrant worker abuse discussed at Doha Debates
December 12th, 2008
Abuses of migrant labourers and domestic staff were discussed openly at the last round of the Doha Debates on November 17th, where the audience voted 75% in favour of a motion that ‘Gulf Arabs value profit over people’. Ex-BBC correspondent and former Hard Talk host Tim Sebastian chaired a fran...
Interview with Kaswara Al-Khatib about the first ever ad campaign for migrant rights in the Middle East
November 25th, 2008
I recently wrote about how impressed I was with the “Rahma” campaign, aired on Arab television and in support of migrant workers within the region who are often mistreated. Seeing as we have been running a website for Migrant Rights in the Middle East, which is also the first regional we...
Rahma advertisements urge mercy for workers
November 18th, 2008
Abusive employers Workers Working conditions
A recent great article in Arab News highlights a great ad campaign for migrant workers: JEDDAH: The abuse of workers in the Kingdom, as reported by several human rights groups, has prompted a Saudi advertisement agency boss to launch a series of TV advertisements to encourage people to show mercy. ...
Poor safety causes death of 3 workers in Bahrain
October 27th, 2008
Bahrain Workers Working conditions
We have written previously about the poor working conditions and lack of safety for migrant construction workers in the Gulf. It was such working conditions that unfortunately led to the death of 3 workers in Bahrain: Anil Kumar (India), Badala Raju (India), and Kamal Amin Sharif (Bangladesh). The ...
Condition of foreign workers in Jordan
September 11th, 2008
Abusive employers Jordan News Slavery Working conditions
A disturbing article from IRIN News: AMMAN, 10 September 2008 (IRIN) – A lawsuit in a US court over the alleged involvement of a Jordanian company in human trafficking has forced the Jordanian government to act against the practice. The Ministry of Interior has formed committees to draft legis...
Lebanon: Migrant Domestic Workers Dying Every Week
August 27th, 2008
Housemaids Lebanon Suicide Working conditions
In a recently released report, Human Rights Watch stated that every week, more than one domestic worker dies due to unnatural reasons in Lebanon. “Domestic workers are dying in Lebanon at a rate of more than one per week,” said Nadim Houry, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch. “All those ...
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