By BEGENA P PRADEEP
Published: 20th October 2008
BAHRAIN’s bureaucratic legal system is discouraging expatriates from filing cases against their sponsors, claims a human rights report.
The Situation of Women Migrant Domestic Workers, compiled by the Bahrain Centre of Human Rights (BCHR), points out that Migrant Workers Protection Society (MWPS) has been unsuccessful at resolving cases against sponsors in the courts.
The report also documents major problems faced by women in Bahrain, the problem of the existing sponsorship system and the need for a comprehensive labour law.
By BEGENA P PRADEEP
Published: 20th October 2008
BAHRAIN’s bureaucratic legal system is discouraging expatriates from filing cases against their sponsors, claims a human rights report.
The Situation of Women Migrant Domestic Workers, compiled by the Bahrain Centre of Human Rights (BCHR), points out that Migrant Workers Protection Society (MWPS) has been unsuccessful at resolving cases against sponsors in the courts.
The report also documents major problems faced by women in Bahrain, the problem of the existing sponsorship system and the need for a comprehensive labour law.
Findings and recommendations in the report have been submitted by the BCHR to the 42nd session of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.
The report states that since its inception in 2002, the MWPS had supported several victims who had taken their cases to court, but allegedly received very low compensation.
“The society withdrew several court cases, including three rape cases, citing a complete lack of success in the courts,” states the report.
“The MWPS recommends individuals to try and resolve cases through mediation with their embassies and sponsors. Most of these mediations have resulted in the victim being paid, followed by repatriation.”
Society action committee head Marietta Dias told the GDN that the time taken by Bahrain courts to reach a decision is now forcing them to rely on out-of-court settlements.
“It’s true that we’ve stopped taking any more cases to the court because it takes far too long for a judgement to be passed,” she said. “The cases drag on, sometimes for years and the outcome is not satisfactory.
“One such case is that of Indian housemaid Anita Varma, whose sponsor admitted beating her, and yet at the end of a couple of years she got BD500 as compensation.
“A woman cannot hang around in Bahrain for so long with no source of income, as the law does not permit expatriates to work while a case is filed against the sponsor.
“Since we were formed around six years ago, we’ve filed four to five cases on behalf of migrant workers, out of which we withdrew three rape cases three years ago due to the time factor.
“We now rely on out-of-court settlements, which seem to be fine in the meantime.”
However, Ms Dias did not wish to comment on the “fairness” of the judgements.
The BCHR’s report documents other major problems faced by women in Bahrain, such as discrimination in the workplace and denial of senior posts in both private and public sectors.
The findings also point out that children and spouses of Bahraini women married to non-Bahraini men are not entitled to citizenship.
It also informs that marital rape is not considered a crime under Bahraini law.
The report points out that female migrant workers are particularly vulnerable to psychological, physical and sexual abuse and are not even protected by labour laws. Many face huge recruitment fees and their passports are withheld.
The report states that upon arriving in Bahrain, female migrant workers are subjected to mandatory health testing related to sexual and reproductive health without consent or counselling.
There is no data on the issue of pregnancy and how it is handled by employers.
Many don’t even have a job contract, which means they are deprived of their rights.
The report blames the existing sponsorship system by which expatriate workers are completely dependent on their sponsors.
It showed that 30 to 40 per cent of attempted suicide cases handled by the government’s psychiatric hospitals were of foreign domestic workers.
However, most victims were too intimidated to sue their employers because of their dependence on the employers’ sponsorship.
This year alone the Labour Ministry sent 500 labour cases involving more than 650 expatriate workers to the Public Prosecution for investigation and prosecution.
begena@gdn.com.bh
BCHR’S RECOMMENDATIONS
Consult civil society organisations on the provisions of the bill related to domestic violence and to adopt the bill as soon as possible thereafter.
Take immediate steps to amend the labour law to cover domestic workers and to ensure its implementation.
Abolish the sponsorship system; establish mechanisms to monitor the working conditions and compliance of employment contracts of domestic workers in the households of their employers; inspect all migrant workers’ contracts; prohibit mandatory HIV/Aids-testing of targeted groups; guarantee foreign workers the right to an accessible and fair system of justice; inform embassies when their nationals are being detained, and facilitate visits by the relevant consular officials.
Ratify the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Members of their Families.
——————————————————————————–
© Gulf Daily News