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Lebanese Minister of Labor promises to abolish sponsorship “kafala” system

January 24th, 2012

Lebanon Legislation Sponsorship

On Monday 23 January 2012, Lebanese Minister of Labor Charbel Nahas declared unacceptable that the Lebanese continue to hire foreign labor they violate the rights, as they continue to rush to the gates of the embassies in search of work and foreign passports. He added: “I am against the confin…

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Reversing the blame in Saudi: another case of irresponsible media

January 24th, 2012

Gulf Housemaids Recruitment Agencies Saudi Arabia Spotlight Workers

Employment agencies, travel brokers, and other middlemen are far from innocent, praying on prospective migrants and employers alike. But the recent piece featured on Arab News seems to victimize employers – Saudis – alone, even suggesting that much of Saudi’s own reputation for human r...

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Contention over UAE’s “unfriendliest” nation designation

January 21st, 2012

UAE

Forbes.com has ranked the UAE as the least friendly country in the world for expat workers. Countries trailing closely behind include Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The ranking was framed around the HSBC’s Expat Explorer Survey, which polls expats across 100 countries regarding their “ability to befri...

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More Indonesian migrants escape death penalty in Saudi

January 18th, 2012

General Legal cases Saudi Arabia Women

In what appears to be another last-minute success story from Indonesia’s migrant worker task force, two women have been granted reprieve from death row. One woman had been accused of practicing witchcraft, while the other was convicted of murdering her employer’s young child. Both women are ...

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Israel passes indefinite detention bill

January 15th, 2012

Deportation General Israel Legislation Prison

Israel’s parliament passed an incredibly controversial law last week that permits the unlimited, indefinite detention of migrants. The law amends a 1954 statute pertaining to guerrilla fighters penetrating the Israeli-Egyptian border. By sactioning the same wartime punishment against alleged terro...

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Group urges manhunt vs. killer of Filipino migrant worker found dead in Manila airport

January 13th, 2012

Bahrain Death

A Filipino migrants’ rights group urges today the authorities to conduct a thorough investigation on the death of an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) who is believed to have just returned from her work but was found dead inside a suitcase at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) 2 pay parkin...

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OFW who died in Syria was possibly hit by stray bullet, says migrant group; urges Philippine Foreign affairs dept. to probe deeply

January 11th, 2012

Death News Syria

A Filipino migrant rights group in the Middle East is not discounting the possibility that an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) who was reportedly killed in Syria was hit by a stray bullet while attempting to escape from her employer’s house in Homs, 160km away north of Damascus, Syria’s capital. Y...

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Spotlight on migrants in Oman

January 10th, 2012

Oman Women Workers

MidEastPosts.com has featured a striking piece depicting the marginalization of migrants in Oman. “A Taboo Subject: The Desperate Plight of Domestic Workers in Oman” is written from the perspective of an Omani citizen, contributing to the growing number of criticisms voiced by MIddle Eas...

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Recent cases of abuse in Kuwait

January 8th, 2012

Abusive employers Death Kuwait Suicide

Several cases of violence against migrants in Kuwait have been documented in the past few weeks. In late December, a maid was found hanging in her sponsor’s home. In January, three migrants committed suicide. One maid hung herself inside her room. A man also hung himself in his room. Another ...

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