‘Bring domestic workers under Gulf labour law’ call
By TARIQ KHONJI
Published: 3rd January 2007
A CALL has gone out for domestic workers to be included in Gulf labour laws and for them to get at least one day off a week.
The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights vice-president Nabeel Rajab called on all GCC governments to modify their laws.
“Migrant domestic workers in the Gulf countries are among the most vulnerable sections of the society,” he said.
“As both females and migrants, often with very little formal education, domestic workers are the most in need of protection by the State.
‘Bring domestic workers under Gulf labour law’ call
By TARIQ KHONJI
Published: 3rd January 2007
A CALL has gone out for domestic workers to be included in Gulf labour laws and for them to get at least one day off a week.
The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights vice-president Nabeel Rajab called on all GCC governments to modify their laws.
“Migrant domestic workers in the Gulf countries are among the most vulnerable sections of the society,” he said.
“As both females and migrants, often with very little formal education, domestic workers are the most in need of protection by the State.
“On the contrary, in the Gulf, domestic workers have been specifically excluded from the purview of the labour law and therefore any legal rights as workers.
“In effect, they work as the property of their employers, with no mechanism to ensure they are provided a safe workplace and are not being abused.
“The BCHR furthers calls on the authorities and civil societies to take immediate steps to require that employers give domestic workers at least one day off from work each week.”
Mr Rajab said that this is in line with Article 25 of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.
However, in Bahrain and the Gulf, the media frequently reports on cases of domestic workers, mainly women from South and Southeast Asia, who have been abused and denied basic rights, continued Mr Rajab.
“There are horrific tales of women who have run away from their local employer’s homes in search of help. The complaints range from being overworked or not receiving wages, to being beaten or raped,” he said.
Mr Rajab also called on the judicial system to impose tougher sentences on abusers.
“With the shocking and huge number of cases that we read in the daily newspapers, we do not see any local citizens brought to justice for committing such abusive acts,” he said.
“The cases that make it to the media, however, are just a fraction of the actual cases of domestic worker abuse in the region. Most of the victims suffer in silence.”
Abused domestic workers frequently fall victim to clinical depression and reports of workers who try to escape the suffering by attempting to commit suicide are very common.
In April 2006, in the space of just a month, three housemaids attempted suicide at the Bahrain Philippine Embassy’s shelter for distressed workers.
According the US State Department’s 2005 Report on Human Rights Practices in Bahrain, between 30 to 40 percent of the attempted suicide cases handled by the government’s psychiatric hospitals involve foreign maids.
“If an abused domestic worker is lucky, her sponsor may eventually put her on a plane back to her home country, without any compensation for the suffering,” said Mr Rajab.
“Unfortunately, most abused domestic workers agree to go back home without seeking justice because they have no other choice.
“A legal case in Bahraini courts would be long and drawn out, so this is rarely an option.
“Unemployed migrant workers would have no alternate means to support themselves during the duration of a trial, let alone pay for legal expenses. Furthermore, the lack of independence of the judiciary means that employers and sponsors can use their social status to influence court decisions in their favour.”
There is only one known case of domestic worker abuse in Bahrain in which the courts have convicted the employer, said Mr Rajab.
“In this case, the employer was an Indian national. The guilty verdict would have been very unlikely had she been a Bahraini national,” he said.
The victim, Anita Devi Verma, suffered multiple head wounds, bruises and burns before being saved by BCHR workers. Despite the fact that her employer admitted to the crime, it took two years for the court to reach a verdict.
The employer was sentenced to a mere three months in jail and ordered pay Ms Verma a paltry sum of BD500 in compensation.”
Many cases of abuse are handled by the Migrant Workers Protection Society, which is a spin-off from the BCHR. The BCHR was dissolved by the government in 2004 for allegedly breaking the Societies Law.
It continues to function unofficially and Mr Rajab is an internationally-recognised human rights campaigner.
© Gulf Daily News