RINF.COM: HET BREKENDE ALTERNATIEF VAN HET NIEUWS
Woensdag, 9 Juli, 2008
RINF.COM: HET BREKENDE ALTERNATIEF VAN HET NIEUWS
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Vele migrerende vrouwenarbeiders in Saoediger behandelden als slaven
Dinsdag, 8 Juli, 2008
Het Horloge van Rechten van de mens interviewde dozens vrouwen die zeiden hun werkgevers hen om tegen hun wil maanden of jaren dwongen te werken. Employers often take away passports, and lock workers in the home, increasing their isolation and risk of psychological, physical, and sexual abuse. After interviews with 86 domestic workers, Human Rights Watch concluded that 36 faced abuses that amounted to forced labor, trafficking, or slavery-like conditions. “The Saudi government has some good proposals for reform but it has spent years considering them without taking any action,” Varia said. “It’s now time to make these changes, which include covering domestic workers under the 2005 Labor Law and changing the kafala system so that workers’ visas are no longer tied to their employers.” The Saudi Ministry of Social Affairs, in cooperation with the police operates a shelter in Riyadh to assist domestic workers to claim their wages and return home. However, in many cases shelter staff negotiated unfair wage settlements between employers and workers, often leaving workers empty-handed because they had to forego back pay in exchange for their employer’s permission to leave the country. Poor investigations and criminal proceedings that often stretch for years mean that abusive employers are rarely punished through the criminal justice system. For example, after three years of proceedings, a Riyadh court dropped the charges against the employer of Nour Miyati, despite the employer’s confession, ample medical evidence, and intense public scrutiny. Nour Miyati, an Indonesian domestic worker, had her fingers and toes amputated as a result of being starved and beaten daily by her employers. Human Rights Watch said that rather than seeing their abusers brought to justice, domestic workers are more likely to face counter-accusations of witchcraft, theft, or adultery. And in such cases, domestic workers often face severe delays in getting access to interpreters, legal aid, or consular assistance, or are denied help. The punishments are severe. In a sample of cases studied by Human Rights Watch, punishments for “witchcraft” and “moral” crimes such as adultery and being in the presence of unrelated men included up to 10 years of imprisonment and between 60 and 490 lashes. Domestic workers who are pregnant as a result of rape also risk prosecution if they cannot meet strict evidentiary standards to prove the rape. “Many of the women I talked to did not file complaints for fear of countercharges,” Varia said. “In other cases, they dropped the charges against their abusers, even if they had a strong case, because otherwise they would be stuck in an overcrowded shelter for years, away from their families and unable to work, and with very little chance of ultimately getting justice.” In the absence of effective local redress mechanisms, the foreign missions of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Nepal often play a critical role in providing shelter, legal aid, and assistance to those who have wage claims or court cases. The demands placed on these embassies far outweigh their resources, and many domestic workers complain of long waiting periods with little information about their cases and, in the cases of Indonesia and Sri Lanka, overcrowded and unhygienic shelters. Human Rights Watch called upon Saudi Arabia to investigate and punish abusive employers and to protect domestic workers from spurious countercharges. It also called upon Saudi Arabia to cooperate more effectively with labor-sending countries to monitor domestic workers’ employment conditions, facilitate rescues, ensure recovery of unpaid wages, create shelters for survivors of abuse with comprehensive support services, and arrange for timely repatriation. Both Saudi Arabia and governments in labor-sending countries should also establish mechanisms for rigorous and regular monitoring of labor agencies and recruitment practices. More than 8 million migrants work in Saudi Arabia, comprising roughly one-third of its population. They fill critical gaps in the health, construction, and domestic service sectors, and also support their home economies, sending back US$15.6 billion in 2006, approximately 5 percent of Saudi Arabia’s gross domestic product. — July 8, 2008 (Human Rights Watch is the largest human rights organization based in the United States. Human Rights Watch researchers conduct fact-finding investigations into human rights abuses in all regions of the world. Human Rights Watch then publishes those findings in dozens of books and reports every year, generating extensive coverage in local and international media.) See More:World NewsHave Your Say: Many migrant women workers in Saudi treated like slaves Please note, only selected comments will be published. Or discuss this report in our new forums One Response to “Many migrant women workers in Saudi treated like slaves”
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I don’t think they are treated worse than the 1% of UK population who are not allowed to work and forced to exploitation and misery