KurdishRights.org: Could you please tell our readers a little bit about yourself?

Rêber: I am a Syrian Kurd, I live in Aleppo, I prefer not to disclose my age and occupation because that would make it easy for Syrian Intelligences to locate me and arrest me, and that would be a serious threat to my life. I love Syria and I am afraid for it.

KR: Could you tell us a little bit about the protests happening in Aleppo and whether Kurds are participating?

Rêber: There are small protests in Aleppo and Kurds are participating – in Kobanî (which is officially called Ain Al-Arab, Eye of the Arabs) as well as other non-Kurdish protests in Saif Al-Dawleh, Sharea Al-Neel, Bab Al-Hadeed and the university dorm. During the last three decades, the iron fist of security forces in Aleppo was so powerful and merciless, which made the people of Aleppo be in a permanent state of fear from security forces. Fear is preventing Aleppo from one big revolution that would ultimately topple the regime.

KR: Since the uprising began, which Kurdish towns and neighborhoods witnessed protests?

Rêber: The most remarkable was in Qamişlo city – about 10,000 people participated in protests on Friday, May 20. That day of protests was called Azadi Friday; “Azadî” is Kurdish for freedom. In Amûdê about 8,000 people participated in protests on Azadi Friday. In Aleppo, Kobanî about 5,000 people joined protests on Azadi Friday. In Serê Kaniyê (Ras Al-Ain) and Al-Derbasieh saw protests with about 3,000 protesters in each on Azadi Friday. In Efrîn there was a protest of about 150 people but it was immediately surrounded by security forces and twelve were arrested.

KR: Do you think that the Kurds of Syria have decided to throw their support behind the Syrian uprising, or are most of them still waiting to see how the situation develops?

Rêber: I believe most Kurds are waiting to know which way things are going. There are many reasons why security forces haven’t opened fire on Kurdish protests until now:
A. The regime’s propaganda of fundamentalists can’t be applied to Kurds.
B. The regime already has enough troubles, they don’t want to gain themselves one more enemy.
C. There are large numbers of Kurds outside Syria, especially in the south of Turkey, a land that borders many Syrian Kurdish towns, let alone Kurds in Europe, the regime can’t handle more external pressure.
D. many Kurds are members of organized Kurdish parties and that makes it easy for them to organize protests with large numbers of participants.

KR: What do you think it the reasons for this hesitance?
Rêber: I believe the revolution doesn’t have a clear agenda, we need to know where it is going, we don’t want to just topple the regime, the revolution should have a clear, national and democratic scheme that includes all Syrian sects. I personally don’t want Syria to be a fundamentalist country; I don’t want it to be a copy Iran.

KR: Why do you think protests in Kurdish towns have persisted despite Assad’s decree that would give back citizenship to “foreign” stateless Kurds?

Rêber: Syrian citizenship was taken from “foreign” Kurds in 1962 while they had it back then. Assad’s decree doesn’t “give back” Syrian citizenship to stateless Kurds, it “endows” it to them as if they were really foreigners not from Syria. There are about 60,000 Kurds who didn’t enlist themselves as “foreign Kurds” when Syrian citizenship was taken from them, they are known as “Maktoumee Al-Qaid” which might be translated as “register muted” and Assad’s decree doesn’t give back citizenship to those. Kurds are a victim of Sykes-Picot agreement which divided Kurdistan into four parts, we are not intruders. Kurds in Syria aren’t allowed to have schools to teach Kurdish, Kurds don’t have cultural, social or political rights in Syria.

KR: There has been a debate among pundits and analysts about why the Kurds have adopted Syrian national symbols in their protests (like the Syrian flag, and chants about willing to sacrifice one’s life for Syria). One theory is that his happened because the identity of Kurdish Syrians has changed and they see themselves as Syrians first and wish to stay as a part of Syria, another theory is that this change is merely tactical and is designed to prevent the Syrian regime from claiming that all protesters are separatists.
Only six years ago, during the Qamişlo protests, Kurds were still using Kurdish national symbols like the Kurdish flag. Why do you think such a change occurred?

Rêber: During the 2004 protests in Qamişlo we learned that our problem lies in Damascus and it should be solved in Damascus, the constitution must settle this dispute, we are in Syria not in Kurdistan and our dilemma is of Syrian origins.

KR: What is your personal view of the protests? Do you support them? Do you think they’ve gained enough momentum to oust Assad?

Rêber: Protests are public peaceful movements and I support political, democratic and peaceful movements that aim at defending human rights. I won’t participate in protests because they get subdued by security forces, hundreds have been killed and thousands have been arrested by security forces, thugs and pro-regime people. The regime is protecting itself through security forces and the army; it is ready to commit the most heinous genocides to survive and not be prosecuted.

KR: If Assad is overthrown, what kind of a Syria would you like to see? What kinds of rights do you want Kurds to have in that Syria?

Rêber: I want a democratic government; I want the constitution to acknowledge that there are Kurds in Syria and to give them their social, cultural and political rights. We need free and honest media. The protection of Syrian citizens should be a governmental top priority.

Originally posted in KurdishRights.org

The demands of the protesters include the following:

We want genuine representation, without the accusation of treason whenever we go out to demand our rights.

We want a Council of Representatives that reflects the composition of the Bahraini people, without the majority being a minority and the minority a majority.

We want to fight corruption and stop the plundering of resources, and achieve a fair distribution of wealth.

We want to stop nepotism, and to prevent recruitment according to affiliation, and to open all sectors, especially the military, to all people.

We want an end to indiscriminate political naturalisation [of Sunni Muslims from foreign countries - F], which has increased the burden on services and oppressed people.

We want true freedom, without a law against “terrorism” and “gatherings”.

We want true media freedom, and the door to be opened for everyone to express their opinions freely and without fear.
We want security in villages and towns, and the release of political prisoners and the reform of prisons, and the end of oppression, torture and intimidation.

We want genuine solutions to the problems of unemployment, housing, education, and health.

Starting from February 14th the Bahraini regime began blocking individual YouTube and facebook pages related to the protests. Since then the internet speed in the Kingdom has slowed down significantly in an apparent effort by authorities to prevent people from sharing information about the ongoing protests.

MideastYouth’s crowd-sourcing service, CrowdVoice, is being used to track protests all over the region, and has a dedicated “voice” for the Bahrain protests. Videos aggregated on CrowdVoice show systematic use of force by Bahraini forces against peaceful protesters in the first two days of protests.

Habibollah Latifi, a Kurdish law student at Azad University and political activist was held for four months under solitary confinement undergoing harsh torture following his arrest on October 23, 2007. Nine days after his arrest Latifi was taken to the hospital with a kidney hemorrhage. A relative who spotted Latifi in the hospital said that he saw “a boy with puffed eyes, grey skin, torn lips. He was unable to stand on his feet. He was being dragged by three people while eight military and plainclothes agents were escorting them.” Latifi was beaten by six men with batons and his head was broken in three places. Following this, Latifi was able only to crawl for a month.

Latifi was tried on the charge of “acting against national security and the regime” on June 30, 2008 in a process that lasted only a few minutes in branch 1 of the Sanandaj Revolutionary Court. According to ICHRI, the accusations leveled against Latifi include involvement in several acoustic explosions, as well as filming and photographing them, in the city of Sanandaj. It also includes an assassination attempt on the life of the Sanandaj Prosecutor, as well as an attack on a local police station. During his trials Habibollah Latifi strongly denied involvement in any of these events.

According to CHRR, Judge Hassan Babaei presiding over the case cited verse 33 of a chapter titled Maedeh in the Qur’an, articles 1,3, and 5 of chapter 6 of a Tahrir oll-masael, a book written by Ayatollah Khomeini, and sections 183, 186, 190, and 191 of the Islamic Penal code to find Mr. Latifi guilty of Moharebeh (enmity with God), and sentenced him to death. The Court of Appeals upheld this verdict on January 29, 2009. Only a week after the case was sent to the Supreme Court in late March 2009, the appeal was denied. The case then went before the Pardoning Committee of the Supreme Court. After 10 months of secrecy, his lawyer, Dr. Nikbakht, was informed that the Committee had refused to hear the case.

Since the Judiciary informed Latifi’s lawyer of the execution on December 22, Latifi’s family and lawyer have been in a race against time to try to stop the execution. Latifi’s lawyer told ICHRI that there are several problems with the case and that Latifi’s legel team has request a re-trial and stay of execution. Elahe Latifi, Habibollah’s sister, said in an interview that “nobody from officials nor representatives have answered us. Nobody is taking responsibility, we do not know what to do.” Regarding her last visit with her brother she said that “I last visited Habib on Tuesday, at that time he was told the execution sentence for 12 individuals have been finalized and said maybe I am one of them. I told him not to even think that way because his case was heading a positive direction.” Habibollah’s niece, Sogand Ahmadzadeh, told ICHRI that “the prison telephones are cut off and this worries us more, because when they want to execute someone, they cut off the prison telephones a few days before the execution so that no one can contact outside. He usually calls on Thursdays. We don’t know whether he knows about his execution order or not, or how he’s doing.”

International human rights organizations have condemned the planned execution and called on the Iranian authorities to rescind the execution order. Amnesty International issued a statement calling for clemency to Latifi. Amnesty’s Director for Middle East and North Africa Malcolm Smart said that “it is clear that Habibollah Latifi did not receive a fair trail by international standards, which makes the news of his impending execution all the more abhorrent.” Human Rights Watch deputy Middle East director Joe Stork said “as in numerous previous security cases, intelligence agents appear to have subjected Latifi to torture and a court sentenced him to death without any convincing evidence against him. The head of Iran’s judiciary should immediately rescind the execution order.”

The Kurdish militia PJAK warned Iranian authorities that if Latifi’s execution takes place, they will review their unilateral ceasefire declaration from last year. The PJAK statement said that “we will use our right to retaliate against Iran’s attacks and executions.”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=946LfiSpCS0[/youtube]

Previous reports by Migrant-Rights.org have exposed an alarming trend of suicides by migrant workers in Kuwait. In May 2010 alone, we documented 17 cases of suicide and attempted suicide by domestic workers in Kuwait. During April, 12 migrant workers attempted or succeeded in ending their lives in Kuwait. During March and the end of February, there were 13 reported cases of suicide and suicide attempt by migrants in the emirate. And during November of 2008 we’ve covered another 13 cases of suicide and attempted suicides by expatriate workers.

Most of the suicides and suicide attempts are committed by domestic workers, the most vulnerable of migrant workers since they are excluded from the protection of Kuwait’s labor laws, and because their work takes place in private residences. Migrant workers are driven to suicide because of their harsh living and working condition, which sometimes include physical abuse and non-payment of salaries.

Documentation

The first suicide attempt in the reporting period was recorded on August 1, when a 23-year-old Ethiopian maid attempted to kill herself by overdosing on pills in Hawali. She was found unconscious and rushed to the hospital in time. The next day, an Asian maid attempted suicide using the same method in Ahmadi. She was found unconscious by her sponsor and rushed to the hospital. The next day, August 3, a 30-year-old Indian man attempted to kill himself by slitting his throat in al-Wafra.

On August 6, an Indonesian maid threatened to jump from the second floor after getting into a fight with her sponsor. The authorities that arrived at the scene managed to talk her out of this. On August 8th, an Asian domestic worker was found dead in a pool of blood in his sponsor’s house in Oyoun, al-Jahra governorate after cutting himself with a blade. The same day, an Asian maid attempted suicide in her sponsor’s house in al-Qadisiya. She stabbed herself several times but survived the injuries.

On August 13, a Sri-Lankan maid threatened to kill herself by jumping off the second floor of a building in the area of Ardiya. The Kuwaiti police managed to talk her out of it. On August 18 it was reported that a 25-year-old Sri-Lankan maid attempted suicide by overdosing on pills in Hawali. She was taken to the Adan hospital in time. On August 22, an Asian maid was hospitalized after attempting suicide by jumping from the balcony of her employer’s apartment in Faheel. On August 25 a Nepalese shepherd ended his life inside a livestock pen in Kabad. On the same day, a 28-year-old Asian man committed suicide by hanging in Salmi. On August 30, a Bangladeshi man hung himself to death from the ceiling in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh.

On September 7, a 49-year-old Filipino maid killed herself by jumping from the fifth floor of a building in Faheel. On the same day, an Asian maid attempted to end her life by slitting her wrists. She was taken to the Intensive Care unit in Faranwiya hospital.

On September 14, a Nepali maid killed herself by hanging in her sponsor’s house in al-Zahr. On September 15, al-Jarida daily reported about two suicide attempts by maids in Kuwait. Interestingly, the report went a little beyond describing the place and method of suicide, and actually bothered to look into the cause of one of the suicide attempts. The paper stated that an Indonesian maid attempted suicide in al-Dahar after being “mistreated and beaten up” by her employers, according to her complaints, and that her last resort to end the abuse was suicide. The second case happened in al-Naeem where a 28-year-old Ethiopian maid attempted to kill herself. On the same day, a 64-year-old Indian migrant hung himself to death in his room in the Salmiya area.

After a heated argument with her sponsor, a Filipino maid attempted to kill herself by swallowing pesticide. She was taken to the Faranwiya hospital on September 17. On the next day, an Asian worker attempted suicide by slitting his wrists in Hawali. On the same day, a Nepalese maid (24) attempted suicide by swallowing detergent in her sponsor’s house in Kaifan. The al-Jarida report again goes beyond the cold details and adds that the cause of the attempt was financial difficulties back home. The maid received a letter from her family asking that she send more money, but her sponsor gave her less than the agreed upon salary, so the maid resorted to suicide after failing to secure the correct amount.

On September 20, two migrants died under suspicious circumstances. A 46-year-old Indian was found dead in a garage in Salmiya, and a 35-year-old Asian “fell” from a building in Abu Halifa.
On the next day, September 21, a Sri-Lankan maid (36) attempted to kill herself by swallowing pesticide. She was taken to the Jahra hospital for treatment. On the same day, an Asian maid attempted suicide in the Andalous area using the same method after a conflict with her employer. She was taken to Faranwiya hospital.

On September 26, an Asian domestic worker attempted to kill herself by swallowing pesticide in her sponsor’s house in the Sabah al-Nasser area. On the next day, a 40-year-old Indian maid attempted to end her life by overdosing on pills in her sponsor’s house in Sulaibiya. She was taken to the Faranwiya hospital and had her stomach washed.

All the reports do not bother reporting the names of the victim and only two report about the causes of suicide. At times the nationality of the victim is reported and age, and sometimes the victims are simply referred to as “Asian maid”. Attempting suicide is a crime in Kuwait, and all the reports mention that the police opened a file against the victim. Yet there has never been a case in Kuwait where a sponsor was tried for driving his worker to suicide.

The report originally appeared on Migrant-Rights.org, a project of MideastYouth.

Could you please introduce yourself to our readers?

My name is Matthew Cassel, I am a photographer and journalist from Chicago currently living in Beirut.

What prompted you to begin this project of photographing migrant domestic workers in Lebanon?

I began working on this issue after Theresa Seda, a 28-year-old domestic worker and mother of three from the Philippines, fell to her death from the seventh floor balcony of her employer’s home across the street from my home in Beirut.

Soon after I was approached by KAFA (Enough) Violence and Exploitation, a Lebanese NGO that is doing research and advocacy work on the issue of violence against women in Lebanon, which includes migrant domestic workers. We wanted to put together a photo project that showed the lives and culture of these women to accompany KAFA’s important research.

The title of your work is “Unseen Lives”. Why do you think Lebanese society is generally unaware of the lives of expatriate domestic workers?

It’s not only Lebanese society that is unaware of the lives of workers, whether they be foreigners or locals. Around the world, especially in my native country the US, workers often go unnoticed and unappreciated for their importance in society. Do most shoppers go to the grocery store and think about who makes the various products or who harvests and delivers fruits and vegetables? And even when we see workers every day like those working construction or collecting garbage, how often do most stop and think about that worker’s story? I would say “unseen lives” is a universal term to describe workers around the world who are rarely given a voice by most mainstream media and popular culture.

However, the situation is a bit different in a country like Lebanon where more and more migrants are coming in search of work and are increasingly being denied even the most basic rights. The situation is more dire here than other places, especially considering the increasing number of domestic workers who have died in recent years, and I think it’s an issue that should spark outrage and force people to act immediately.

Some of the photographs from the essay were shot inside the homes the maids worked in and documented their daily routine. What are you observations about their working and living conditions? Do you think those conditions may differ in other homes?

Conditions differ from home to home. But in my opinion, hiring a woman to live and work inside your home leaving her with no separation between her personal and work life is enough to be considered exploitation and mistreatment. In every home where women both work and live, they are “at work” 24/7 (there is even a new activist group called 24/7 that organizes to support domestic workers). They can be woken up in the middle of the night to take care of a sick child or leaky faucet. Never, except for those who are actually allowed a day off, are they “off the clock” and away from their work. And usually a day off means a few hour break on Sunday or other day when most women have to spend that time constantly checking the clock so they don’t violate their curfew and upset their employers. Since workers have little to no protection, the few rights they might have are entirely at the whim of the employer and can be taken away at any second. The employer can give them additional work, not allow them a day off, and take advantage of them in other ways. Therefore, many workers who I met share a sense of not wanting to upset their employer, or, “keep madame happy” as I heard some women say.

In the few homes where I photographed, women were treated well and were happy with their jobs. As I say in the project’s statement, this body of photographs in no way accurately portrays the lives of most domestic workers in this country. Those who I could photograph had a “better” situation than most in the sense that they were able to leave their employers’ homes or their employers were comfortable asking their domestic workers if I could photograph them in the work place. Obviously, an employer who mistreats or abuses their worker wouldn’t want to allow an American photographer in to expose that situation. But I know that such situations do exist and that they are not rare. Many women who have been here for a few years or more have had more than one employer, and they described to me how either they or other workers who they know have faced or are currently facing abuse and mistreatment from their employers. It’s frightening to hear these stories knowing that there is very little that can be done in most cases.

Theresa Seda was an example of this. In the two months that she worked in Lebanon, she was never able to leave the home unless it was to take care of her employer’s kids when the family went out. She was essentially a prisoner in her employer’s home although she committed no crime. And unfortunately, many women face a similar situation.

So, while the conditions may differ slightly from home to home, in general the system of hiring foreign women as domestic workers is broken and needs to be fixed.

Were you able to communicate with some of the maids? What did they tell you about working conditions? What are their perceptions of Lebanese society?

I was able to communicate with many different women from every country that domestic workers in Lebanon come from. And I found that very few women, a definite minority, had positive views of Lebanese society. The overwhelming majority who I spoke with — and mind you these are the workers who have better situations — have become used to living and working in this society and are very critical of the way they’re treated by Lebanese civilians and authorities. Unless a woman has or had an especially good relationship with her employers, it’s rare that she would recall stories of when she felt she had a Lebanese friend or someone she felt she could trust. This helps explain the tightly knit societies that exist between migrant workers. When they can, women reach out to their other countrywomen who they can speak their native language with, and they’ll even reach out to workers from other countries who they might have trouble communicating with just to form a network and strengthen the worker community. Almost all who I’ve met seem to have the attitude that no Lebanese are going to protect them, so they have to protect themselves.

Was there one scene in particular that made an impression on you during the months of photographing migrant domestic workers?

Obviously, Theresa’s death across the street from my home affected me most. It’s difficult to put into words
the feelings I had as I watched her body lie in the street and under the rain covered only by a white tarp held down by a broken plastic chair, a flower pot, and bits of cement. On the street around her body, people walked by and cars passed, it seemed to be business as usual and was very surreal to witness. But it showed me how little rights these foreign women in Lebanon have, even in death. After that moment I had no choice other than to speak out and take action.

The other scenes that affected me most were the ones that I couldn’t photograph. One worker in particular who is a very active member in the worker community and who has also become a very close friend of mine, told me horrific stories every day about new cases of abuses that she discovered through her networks. There is one woman in particular who comes from the same country as she does and who managed to get in touch with my friend and tell her that she needed help. The woman had only one minute to explain on a pay phone as she walked her employer’s dog near their home.

My friend was able to quickly jot down some details about the home and the surrounding area before she told the other worker to write her testimony detailing her situation and the abuse she faced on a piece of paper that she could come pick up from her later. I went with my friend after her job one day, and we spent hours following the clues until we found the house where the woman worked. As we stood across the street looking at the house it was awful to realize that inside a woman was being abused and there was absolutely nothing we could do about it. We had to leave so that my friend could come back and wait around the corner for the next time the worker left with the dog so she can pick up the note from her.

For my friend, this was something she does on a regular basis. She calls it “note-dropping,” sometimes she picks up notes from trash cans, from under balconies, from the grocery store. The notes are just the first step before she takes them to one of the NGOs to see if a lawyer can get involved and help the abused worker. And even when a lawyer does get involved, it’s far from guaranteed that the abused worker can be rescued from her employer.

Seeing the commitment that my friend and so many other workers in Lebanon have to their community left the biggest impression on me. It’s really been an honor for me to get to know people who have no money, no rights, no free time, yet still somehow manage to organize themselves and struggle for justice.

What would you like our readers to know about migrant domestic workers in Lebanon?

I wish that everyone would get to know these women and listen to them talk about their lives, their families, their homes and everything else that they’ve had to leave behind in search of work. Their struggle is incredible and it’s far from over, they deserve our respect and support.

Unseen Lives: Migrant Domestic Workers in Lebanon – Images by Matthew Cassel

Originally posted on Migrant-Rights.org

Previous reports by Migrant-Rights.org have exposed an alarming trend of suicides by migrant workers in Kuwait. In May 2010 alone, we documented 17 cases of suicide and attempted suicide by domestic workers in Kuwait. During April, 12 migrant workers attempted or succeeded in ending their lives in Kuwait. During March and the end of February, there were 13 reported cases of suicide and suicide attempt by migrants in the emirate. And during November of 2008 we’ve covered another 13 cases of suicide and attempted suicides by expatriate workers.

On June 2, an Asian maid killed herself by swallowing detergent in her sponsor’s home in Waha, al-Jahra. On the same day, an unidentified woman attempted to kill herself by swallowing chemicals and was taken to the hospital where her stomach was washed. The fact that the paper did not bother identifying the woman indicates that she is a foreigner. On June 6 in was reported that an Asian woman jumped to her death from a residential building in al-Jahra. A day later, on June 7, it was reported that a Filipino maid threatened to kill herself after an argument with her sponsor’s wife in their home in Ardiya. The security forces that arrived at the scene managed to talk the maid out of taking her life.

On June 9, a Filipina maid ended her life by jumping from the fifth floor of her sponsor’s house in Hawali. Two days later, on June 11, a Filipina maid “fell” to her death from the fifth floor in her sponsor’s house in Mahboula.

On June 14, a Sri-Lankan domestic worker hanged himself to death from the ceiling in his sponsor’s home in Ferdous. A day later it was reported that a 26-year-old Ethiopian maid attempted to kill herself by swallowing poison. She was rushed to the hospital in time. The paper claimed that the maid suffered from psychological problems. The next day a 33-year-old Indian woman was rushed to the hospital after attempting to end her life by swallowing chemicals. On June 22, a 30-year-old Filipino housemaid attempted to kill herself by overdosing on pills. She was found unconscious and was rushed to the hospital in time.

The month of July began with a report on the 1st about the suicide of an Indian migrant in his apartment in Faranwiya. On July 3, an Asian domestic worker attempted to take her own life in her sponsor’s house in Naim-Jahara by drinking insecticide. A day later, on July 4, an Ethiopian maid hanged herself to death shortly after arriving to her sponsor’s house in al-Jahra.

On July 6, there were three reported cases of suicide by migrant workers. A 39-year-old Indian worker swallowed detergent and then sustained further severe injuries when falling from a building of a private university in Salmiya. The woman was rushed to the ICU in Mubarak al-Kabeer hospital. On the same day, al-Qabas daily reported about the suicide by hanging of an Asian worker in the office of a construction company he worked in, and the attempted suicide of an Ethiopian maid who swallowed insecticide in her sponsor’s house in Naim-Jahra.

On July 16, a Filipino maid in her 30s was hospitalized for attempting to kill herself by overdosing on drugs. Three days later, on July 19, an Indonesian maid suffered several fractures after attempting to end her life by jumping off the third floor of her sponsor’s home in the Sabah Al-Nasser area. The next day, a 35-year-old Asian man was taken to the Mubarak al-Kabeer hospital after slashing his right hand in an attempt to kill himself. Three days later, of July 22, it was reported that a 34-year-old Sri Lankan housemaid killed herself by jumping from the third floor of her sponsor’s house in the Abdullah Mubarak area.

On July 24, a 23-year-old Nepalese domestic worker ended her life by hanging in her sponsor’s house in Oyoun, al-Jahra. On the next day, a 30-year-old Nepalese maid hanged herself to death from a ceiling-fan in her sponsor’s house in al-Jahra (report in Arabic contains disturbing photograph, beware). On July 29, an Asian man hanged himself to death from a ceiling fan in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh. Once again, the report claims the victim suffered from psychological problems.

Reports about these miserable workers are pushed to the back pages of newspapers in Kuwait, and the Gulf region in general. The workers are nameless in their death as they are in their lives, with the papers not bothering to learn the name of the workers and sometimes even their age and nationality. Other than one report, no one in the Kuwaiti media tries to understand the reasons for this tragic phenomena. Reports suggest that the reason for suicides are psychological problems of the victims, without trying to understand what about the treatment of the sponsor leads these migrant workers to suicide en masse.

Domestic workers in Kuwait are excluded from the protection of its labor laws. A recent U.S. State Department report detailed the conditions many migrant workers are subjected to in Kuwait:

Although these migrants enter Kuwait voluntarily, upon arrival some are subjected to conditions of forced labor by their sponsors and labor agents, including through such practices as non-payment of wages, threats, physical or sexual abuse, and restrictions on movement, such as the withholding of passports. Labor recruitment agencies and their subagents at the community level in South Asia may coerce or defraud workers into accepting work in Kuwait that turns out to be exploitative and, in some instances, constitutes involuntary servitude.

Given this type of treatment, many workers see no choice out of their desperate situation other than taking their lives.

Originally posted on Migrant-Rights.org

Fifty Baha’i families in the village of Eival could do nothing but watch their houses being demolished this week, RAHNA reported.

On June 22, the Baha’is of Eival learned that non-Baha’is in their village are collecting signatures to destroy, level and clear the houses of the Baha’is living in the villages. Some of the Baha’is approached the local administration office but were turned away as Iranian officials stated that the reports are unfounded. On the next day, the Baha’is again approached the local office, a police station in Telmadareh and also went governor’s office in the Mazandaran province capital in Sari. All authorities stated that the reports were false and accused the Baha’is of breaking the law by approaching them.

Eival village entered a state of quarantine for 48 hours and Baha’i families were violently barred from their homes. Following this the demolition of the Baha’i houses began. According to an eyewitness, a few men with trucks demolished and leveled around fifty houses of Baha’is in the village.

The following footage of the aftermath of the destruction was obtained by HRA-IRAN:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxFgxuOHVRE[/youtube]

The editorial highlighted the International Labor Organization’s praise of the UAE’s Wage Protection System (WPS), stating that it is a model to be followed by other countries. The WPS has indeed helped to insure that documented migrant workers get their wages on time in the UAE, although cases of laborers going unpaid are still common.

The editorial goes on to say:

For years, the UAE was unfairly the target of media campaigns in the West with regard to the conditions under which low-skilled labourers work. It is refreshing to see the country receive credit for its efforts to protect the rights of these labourers.

The UAE has been appropriately targeted for the violation of migrant workers’ human rights by the media and human rights groups, including Migrant-Rights.org. The UAE offers little protection to migrant workers, as it ties them to local sponsors making them completely dependent on them for their livelihood and vulnerable to exploitation. The UAE forbids unionizing and strikes, and does not offer migrant workers minimum wage. The UAE doesn’t even bother enforcing its own laws when it comes to passport confiscations and altering of work contracts, which workers are subjected to quite often. Working conditions of construction workers are extremely poor and workers are often exploited. Domestic workers are not included under the realm of the country’s labor laws, they are not given a weekly rest day, their work hours are practically unlimited and they are not paid for overtime.

The editorial ends with this infuriating statement:

As UAE officials have often maintained, what is being done is not something we have had to do, but it is in line with the county’s social and humanitarian values.

The UAE is subjected to pressure from the U.S., sending countries of workers, international labor organization and international and local human rights organizations to improve its protection of migrant workers, which is extremely poor. The UAE is not based on “social and humanitarian values” but on exploitation of slave labor from the Third World. The UAE is a country where expatriates must be deported if they contract an infection disease, blue-collar workers are placed in segregated and overly populated labor camps, and where Emiratis serve one year in jail for burning a Pakistani man to death, while workers get the same sentence for iron scrap theft. The Gulf News’ perception of Emirati exceptionalism is based on anything but facts.

Cross-posted on Migrant Rights.