Human Rights Watch (HRW) published last week a summary of the reports and research they’ve conducted over the last year on migrant rights. The end-year report highlighted the lack of protection of migrant workers in many Middle Eastern countries.
In Kuwait, the report focused on the Sponsorshi…
HRW Overview of Migrant Workers Rights in the Middle East in 2009
December 20th, 2009
Egypt Housemaids Israel Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Legislation Saudi Arabia Sponsorship Suicide UAE
List of proposed solutions to insure the rights of foreign maids in Lebanon
December 17th, 2009
Housemaids Lebanon Legislation Sponsorship
The following is a listing solutions and measures meant to secure the fundamental rights of female migrant domestic workers in Lebanon. These proposals have been collected in reports, studies and press releases from Human Right Watch, the International Labour Organization and Caritas-Lebanon. They a...
Sri Lankan Maid Commits Suicide in Kuwait
December 17th, 2009
A 26-year-old Sri Lankan maid was found dead Monday night, the Kuwaiti daily Al-Jarida reported today. The woman hung herself in a house in Meedan Hawalli, Kuwait. According to a security official, the employer of the maid withheld her salaries for many months. The authorities found a recent letter ...
HRW: Israel is Complicit in Egyptian Abuses of Forcibly Returned Migrants
December 15th, 2009
Human Rights Watch called on the Israeli Supreme Court to forbid the IDF to continue forcibly returning to Egypt refugees and migrants who cross the Sinai border. In the current policy, Israel doesn’t allow the migrants to seek asylum, forcing them instead to return to Egypt. In Egypt, the Afr...
Indonesian Maid Attempts Suicide in Saudi Arabia
December 15th, 2009
Housemaids Saudi Arabia Suicide
The Saudi edition of the Pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat reported today about the case of an Indonesian maid who was planning to commit suicide in Medina. The maid who is in her 20s, climbed to the fourth floor of an apartment building in northern Medina and threatened to jump. She agreed to step down after...
Iraqi Refugees Face Exploitation in Lebanon
December 14th, 2009
Abusive employers Iraq Lebanon Refugees
The Daily Star reported today about the possible exploitation refugees from Iraq face in Lebanon. Following the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, many Iraqis fled the country and about 50,000 of them settled in Lebanon. Christian Iraqis saw Lebanon as an attractive destination due to its large Christian p...
Lebanese woman sentenced to prison for beating her Filipino maid
December 12th, 2009
Abusive employers Housemaids Lebanon Legal cases Working conditions
On 9 December 2009, a criminal court judge (single judge) in Batroun sentenced a Lebanese woman who beat the Filipino maid who was working at her home to 15 days of prison, to a fine of fifty thousand Lebanese Pounds, and to payment to Jonalin Malibago, the Pilipino maid, of ten million and eight hu...
Abused Maid Returns from Bahrain; No Charges Brought Against Sponsor Yet
December 12th, 2009
Abusive employers Bahrain Housemaids
We’ve previously reported about the case of Lakshmi Surampudi, an Indian woman who had worked as a maid in Bahrain. She was abused for years and found malnourished and almost blind after fleeing her sponsor. She was forced to sleep on a towel on the floor, and was “regularly hit, kicked, st...
Israel to Construct a Barrier along the Border with Egypt to Prevent Entry of Migrants
December 8th, 2009
Israeli Channel 2 and the paper Maariv reported today that Prime Minister Netanyahu approved the construction of a barrier along the Israeli-Egyptian border to prevent the entry of migrant workers and asylum seekers as well as criminal elements. As we’ve mentioned before, the plan to construct...


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