GDN:Embassies backing maids’ wage rise

By GEOFFREY BEW
Published: 10th September 2006

SEVERAL embassies in Bahrain have come out in support of plans to double the minimum wage of Filipina housemaids working in the Middle East. They are now monitoring developments and some, including the Indian Embassy, are drawing up their own measures to protect their citizens – such as requiring housemaids to report to the embassy on a regular basis.

The GDN revealed last week that talks are underway at the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), a government agency responsible for the monitoring of Filipino workers overseas, to double their minimum wage from $200 (BD75) to $400 (BD151).

By GEOFFREY BEW
Published: 10th September 2006

The Philippine Embassy said the proposal was being taken seriously since maids were the “lowest paid workers” in the region.

Labour attaché Alejandro Santos told the GDN monthly salaries were modest compared to those in Europe and Asia, where maids can earn between $500 (BD189) and $1,500 (BD567).

Pakistan Embassy community welfare attaché Habib ur Rehman Gilani said Pakistani officials were monitoring the Philippine government’s proposal and may introduce a similar policy in the future.

He said the embassy had already requested the government of Bahrain to consider introducing a minimum wage for expatriate workers.

Mr Gilani argued the current situation was leading to the exploitation of the immigrant workforce and believes increased wages would also benefit employers.

“Sometimes they are willing to get these jobs at very low wages,” he said.

“This not only affects the quality of life of these workers, but also their productivity.

“If a worker is not paid according to the level of work they are doing they will not give their best.

“It is affecting the quality of workers employers get too because they do not always get the best quality of people.”

Mr Gilani said the embassy has no record of Pakistani housemaids working in Bahrain, but believes the issue is relevant to other areas of employment.

“We will be interested to know how things turn out with the experiment of the Philippine government and how the manpower agencies will be affected,” he added.

“Based on this evaluation we will also formulate policies for our workers.”

The Philippine government already increased the minimum salary of Filipina housemaids in the Middle East to BD75 in September last year.

At the time, the embassy received complaints from several employers and recruiters in Bahrain saying that a monthly salary of BD50 a month was sufficient.

Indian Ambassador Balkrishna Shetty welcomed the latest proposal, but said wider changes to the law were required to offer more protection to workers.

“Anything to increase the minimum wage is good,” he said.

“These people tend to be the most vulnerable.”

Mr Shetty said the Indian government is currently considering whether women should be allowed to work as maids in the Middle East and revealed a number of conditions could be added to their employment contracts in the future.

These included scrutinising potential Bahraini sponsors and having housemaids report to the embassy monthly for follow-up reports.

“All are aimed at ensuring that Bahrainis also get a good housemaid and the families of these people are considerate and that they will treat their maid properly,” Mr Shetty said.

“We feel most of the maids will be OK, but there is always a fringe element.

“We have had a lot of cases where maids have been treated badly.

“They are not allowed to leave and there is nowhere for them to complain.

“Most of them are not educated and are not aware of their rights.

“Anybody can do anything to them and they (the victims) can just be deported.

“Unless there are specific laws it is very difficult to catch them.”

Bangladesh Ambassador Ruhul Amin also backed the Philippine government’s plans, describing them as “fair” given the prevalence of low rights and abuses expatriate workers often suffered.

“Any country should give fair wages and their fundamental rights as a human being should be respected,” he said.

He added the Bangladesh government banned housemaids from working in Bahrain and other Gulf countries in March last year to protect them from abusive employers.

Many are still thought to be working in Bahrain and the Gulf as legislation did not force the return of those already working in foreign countries, although no official estimates are available.

Ethiopia does not have an embassy or consular office in Bahrain, but a Bahrain-based official attached to the embassy in Kuwait revealed there were around 8,000 housemaids working in Bahrain.

“Weekly they are arriving in their hundreds,” said the official, who did not want to be named.

“Maids are supposed to get a salary of BD50, but when they arrive it is BD40.

“They have heavy duties and are working 16 to 18 hours a day.

“Some of them also have basic materials deducted from their salary such as cleaning materials, soap and shampoos.”

The official agrees with the Philippine government’s proposal, but believes it is setting the minimum wage too high and if it was introduced could encourage illegal migration.

“It is a good idea, but the figure is very high,” he added.

“You have to make things not according to what you want, but how much people can afford otherwise people will come in an illegal way.”

He thinks a salary of BD60 would be fair.

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