Neglected
No legislation yet to ensure welfare of over 50,000 foreign housemaids
Titus Filio
Contributor
Over 50,000 foreign housemaids working in Bahrain are awaiting legislations that can ensure them better treatment, decent work environment and better wages.
The maids are feeling left out – almost forgotten – as Bahrain and the rest of the world commemorate International Labour Day tomorrow.
The housemaids are not even considered “workers” – a fate they share with about one million counterparts in the other GCC countries.
For many there is no dayoff or overtime payment. And some are subjected to physical and verbal abuse.
Neglected
No legislation yet to ensure welfare of over 50,000 foreign housemaids
Titus Filio
Contributor
Over 50,000 foreign housemaids working in Bahrain are awaiting legislations that can ensure them better treatment, decent work environment and better wages.
The maids are feeling left out – almost forgotten – as Bahrain and the rest of the world commemorate International Labour Day tomorrow.
The housemaids are not even considered “workers” – a fate they share with about one million counterparts in the other GCC countries.
For many there is no dayoff or overtime payment. And some are subjected to physical and verbal abuse.
“We are always the losers, always at the receiving end. We ran away from employers because of mistreatment and because they had not paid our salaries. Yet we end up like we are the ones who committed crimes,” says Alicia (not her real name), a Filipina maid who has run away to the Philippine embassy shelter.
Their fate as servants outside the purview of Bahrain’s labour law was sealed when the amended labour law did not address maids’ issues.
Even sweeping laws affecting expatriate workers, like a comprehensive insurance package for foreign workers, did not include maids.
The government had said a separate law for the housemaids was being drafted and would be passed soon. But it is still not ready.
Countries from where housemaids come and non-governmental organisations and human rights movements are unanimous that a law is needed to ensure maids’ protection.
Sabikha Al Najjar of the Bahrain Human Rights Organisations reiterated at a major domestic workers’ forum earlier this year that the government had repeatedly ignored the maids’ plight.
“It is time we did something about them. They are women and the most vulnerable and most exploited in Bahrain,” Al Najjar said.
Lawmakers like Shura Council member Faisal Fulad said that in the past one year they had presented draft proposals dealing with housemaids. Fulad is also a member of the Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society.
Many maids are poorly paid. For example, those from Indonesia, Eritrea and Ethiopia receive less than BD50 a month.
Many countries are battling to strike a better deal for their citizens working abroad. Manila, for instance, mandated a BD150 salary for its maids. But the Bahrain government is yet to recognise it officially.
Bahrain has enforced restrictions to prevent the trafficking and abuse of housemaids. In the past one year, more than a dozen manpower recruitment agencies have been closed down.
Still, it is a long way ahead for the maids.
Yet, welfare activists are optimistic that the Bahrain government will address the issue. “It has been tough for many of us, we do not know how much longer we will have to wait to say that we are being treated fairly,” Sri Lankan housemaid Tonya said.
Article from: Bahrain Tribune Newspaper