Migrant Workers

by Khara J Jabola-Carolus for Migrant-Rights.org
One of the last (two) countries where divorce is illegal and where the ruling Catholic elite maintains a staunch anti-reproductive rights stance, the island nation of the Philippines boasts a staggering population of 90 million people and (exponentially) counting. To better appreciate this figure, consider that the Philippines has nearly [...]

Over the month of January, we at Migrant-Rights.org have covered cases of abuse against migrant workers in Lebanon, Jordan, Libya, Qatar, the UAE, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait. Following our documentation of several cases of suicide and attempted suicide by domestic workers in Kuwait, the Kuwait Times has published an expose on the subject. [...]

While we are not against progress, innovation and growth, we feel that during all the excitement about the opening of the the Burj Khalifa (formerly known as Burj Dubai), it is forgotten that those who built it, mainly south-Asian migrant workers, have paid a high price for this ambitious project. Those workers toiled 12 hour [...]

After spending another year documenting abuses of migrant workers in the Middle East, it’s time that we look back at the most significant, influential and important stories that we’ve covered.
1. Death of Domestic Migrant Workers in Lebanon
This story is significant not just because of the sheer number of deaths and their alarming frequency, but also [...]

The following is a translation on an article that appeared in the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat last week.
The dreams of foreign maids in Lebanon turn into nightmares
The rise of suicide rates to one case a week due to maltreatment, and humanitarian organizations ring the alarm bells

The following is a listing solutions and measures meant to secure the fundamental rights of female migrant domestic workers in Lebanon. These proposals have been collected in reports, studies and press releases from Human Right Watch, the International Labour Organization and Caritas-Lebanon. They address to the Lebanese government, foreign missions of the sending countries, private [...]

We have received alarming news about a Filipino man who is currently jailed in Saudi Arabia after suffering months of abuse from his employer while working without pay. The man’s employer is not making any attempts to help his worker, trying to extort money from him.
The man, R. M. (full name withheld for his protection), [...]

We are happy to share with you the new redesign of one of our projects, Migrant-Rights.org. Migrant-Rights was created to raise awareness about the common abuse of migrant workers in the region.
We worked hard on this design, trying to make the site more welcoming and increase its functionality. We hope you like it!

Let us know [...]

Employers in Bahrain can hold their foreign workers captive by not returning their passport and allowing them to go home, said the Migrant Workers Protection Society (MWPS). According to the NGO, when the migrant workers flee their employers, the police doesn’t assist them in getting back their passports so they can leave, and instead returns [...]

Modern day slavery: a term often confused with residency trading. It’s the million dollar industry that trades human lives. KD 500 if you’re Asian, KD 1000 if you’re an Arab. And the customers? They’re young people desperate for a dream: The Kuwaiti Dream.
The issue of residency trading has been swept under the rug for a while [...]