I’m not saying we should provide a one-sided view about maids in the Gulf. Complaints will exist and some are legitimate. However, journalists, columnists, bloggers and editors need to be extremely alert and cautious about how they are framing these issues. Maids lack a lot of legal rights in our countries, thanks in part to the sponsorship system which leaves them completely vulnerable to abuse, but they also suffer from a considerable amount of racist discrimination throughout our societies. Look no further than an average mall or an airport anywhere from Doha to Manama to witness the despicable treatment of South Asian workers. It’s common enough that it’s impossible to deny.

We need to highlight our outrage to these editors who don’t know any better than to publish this propaganda that seemingly encourage racism and normalizes classism. Why push for the idea that maids are “pampered” when they have incredibly demanding jobs under little to no protection? Why complain about the expenses involved in hiring a maid when they get the least amount of compensation which amount to nothing in comparison to the average salary in the Gulf? And more importantly, why amplify these self-absorbed voices instead of the voices of victims and their families that are barely recognized? Thousands of families are still demanding justice for their siblings, mothers, fathers, sons or daughters who have disappeared without trace upon arriving to our countries. They are forgotten and dismissed.

In a previous article I took similar issue with one of the other pieces published by this same paper. Sadly other local papers appear to have been inspired to be following a similar trend. This is a grave problem.

For a publication called Emirates 24/7 the editors should consider creating a section to discuss the “24/7 workers” who work insane hours on a daily basis to provide for complete strangers, sometimes under deplorable conditions. They spend years doing this. Some don’t come out of it alive. Some take their own lives. Some patiently go through each day despite not having their salaries paid on time or in full. Some get beaten to death. Some get raped.

This isn’t to generalize and claim that all domestic workers go through these issues, but they do happen in such frequency that we should be alarmed and informed enough to take action. We should never dismiss these as the “few” cases – there’s enough of these cases that makes this OUR problem. Every single week for an entire year there’s one story after another about these incidents and yet the outcry remains largely invisible particularly in these media outlets, who instead publish these horrid stories about maids being “pampered.”

So I have a few questions for Shuchita Kapur, one of the authors of such offensive and unnecessary op-ed pieces. You think it’s tough having to “pamper” a maid? Having to provide for her the way she gave up years of her life to provide for you? Having to grant this individual who catered to your every need a decent request? Go through one day as a maid and I assure you, you will never complain again. I’m confident it will change the tone of your stories when you realize the challenges and physical/psychological pressures involved in the job. When you are turned away from public spaces, mocked, dismissed, and harassed because the entire community around you deems you so pitiful to the point of worthlessness. When the idea of reuniting with your family is a distant dream that may or may never happen depending on nothing but pure “luck” because your protection is never guaranteed.

Shuchita, I doubt you have the strength required to endure this pain.

It might appear from the influx of tragic stories that these maids are weak and helpless. Make no mistake in assuming that. Most have the inspiring courage, determination, and patience necessary to survive decades of abuse, imprisoned in a household where they are taken advantage of, mistreated and never appreciated, all the while missing out on watching their own families grow. How many of us can go through that?

It’s time for us to urgently take a stance against trivializing abuse of migrant workers in the media.

Zainab is one of Bahrain’s most prominent human rights activists. Throughout her advocacy campaigns, she has never encouraged, partook in or condoned violence. She is however guilty of what appears to be a much larger crime: peacefully demanding her rights. Yesterday afternoon, Zainab began protesting in Budaiya doing exactly that. Her persistence and courage in the face of riot police led to her arrest. The Bahraini government has made it clear, time and again, that they fear Zainab merely for her ongoing bravery in exposing oppression, torture and police brutality. She does this despite threats, constant surveillance and harassment.

It’s worth noting that Zainab’s father, Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, is currently serving a life sentence in prison for a “crime” not that different than what led to Zainab’s arrest yesterday. Her husband is also in prison.

Zainab consistently notes that the real heroes of the Bahrain uprising are those who have paid the price of freedom with their life and blood. Protesters cannot hold funerals for them without being dispersed by tear gas or otherwise met with force. Here is a video showing police ripping off the pictures of such victims:

Tear gas are used in areas where protests are not even taking place yet as a warning sign not to engage in any:

Tear gas in Bani Jamrah

Al Deer village

Abu Saiba

More tear gas in Abu Saiba

These are all evidence of abuse and must serve as a prime example of the Bahraini government’s grave injustices that remain unpunished. We must work together to free our activists so that they may continue telling their stories.

CrowdVoice has been curating images and videos of frequent arrests as well as evidence of abuse and tear gas in daily protests, primarily throughout Bahrain’s villages. CrowdVoice is one of many sites censored in Bahrain since the 17th of February for coverage of the country’s police brutality – in addition to the many sites that have been censored since many years for providing alternative outlets for political expression.

But most of the players in this Middle Eastern upheaval don’t have anything to celebrate, not yet. And it remains more important than ever to keep track of the voices that are calling for change within the countries themselves.

Syria’s uprising is still raging, with thousands filling the streets of Homs, Daraa and other cities despite at least 30 deaths a day by the growing brutality of the Syrian regime. Over eight months into the struggle, the Syrian situation continues to change by the day, with bumbling international politics trying to stop an end to the tragic violence that has killed an estimated 5,000 protesters thus far. In spite of this, protests continue to be mainly non-violent, although the Free Syrian Army is playing a growing role, and the revolutionaries have never been more convinced of the regime’s eventual fall.

In Bahrain, protesters continue to struggle against the government despite little media coverage, and practically no nuanced, well represented coverage. The Bahraini regime is expected to come out with its report to assess the “incidents” that have happened between anti-government protesters and the government itself, although few have faith in the commission backed by a government that has tortured doctors and imprisoned political activists for life.

Meanwhile protests in Yemen enter their 11 month, having maintained considerable protests against all odds all year. An estimated 2,000 protesters have lost their lives calling for the downfall of the regime, and thousands more have been injured in attacks by pro-government forces. As Saleh continues to promise an eventual transition of power backed by Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council, protesters continue to refuse dialogues with Saleh’s regime and to demand his ouster before embarking on a more democratic path.

Moroccan protesters are still out demanding significant changes, despite the regime co-opting some of the protesters’ demands so as to stave off a full blown revolution.

The road to a freedom in these three countries, and freedom from tyranny and oppression throughout the Middle East, will be a long one, one that will claim more lives and more time. But already, not even a year into the uprisings, people are growing tired, overwhelmed, or otherwise losing interest in tracking these efforts towards freedom. Losing interest or patience is a luxury that people on the ground in Syria, Bahrain, Morocco and Yemen can’t afford themselves. We all must take part in our responsibility to amplify these voices of change across the Middle East, and to support them however we can. We must continue to keep track of what is happening on the ground, and not letting these people’s struggles be forgotten.

This compilation of reports are only from the past few weeks:

A Filipina domestic helper rendered blind by her sponsor in Kuwait after working without pay for a year [Source]

Herath Menika, a young Sri Lankan maid who worked in Bahrain, recounts the story of her abusive employers [Source]

An Indian man committed suicide in the house of his sponsor in Waha, Kuwait, while a housemaid attempts suicide [Source]

Abeline Baholiarisoa, a maid from Madagascar, forced to work as a “slave maid” for wealthy families in Lebanon for 15 years [Source]

Indian migrant workers harassed in Saudi Arabia [Source]

In Kuwait, more maids commit suicide [Source], while an Indian driver attempts to kill himself by slitting his wrists [Source]

A Filipino maid in her mid-30s attempts suicide in Kuwait [Source]

A housemaid raped in Kuwait [Source]

“Raped, battered, made pregnant, then kicked out: a common story for maids” (in the Middle East.) This story is about a Nepali maid in Saudi Arabia [Source]

Two men kidnapped and raped an Asian housemaid in Kuwait [Source]

Indonesian autopsy reveals violence killed maid in Saudi Arabia [Source]

Unspeakable cruelty: abused Ethiopian nanny found at Gadhafi compound [Source]

New ordeal for Indonesian who escaped Saudi sword [Source]

Kenyan woman working in Saudi Arabia seeks assistance to leave the country due to abusive employers [Source]

Kuwait: Asian ‘dies’ in sponsor’s home [Source] while another attempts suicide [Source]

Kenyans suffer in slavery in Saudi Arabia [Source]

Indonesian maid attempts suicide in Farwaniya, Kuwait [Source]

A murdered maid in the UAE was abused regularly [Source]

Nepali housemaid without pay for 3 months in Bahrain [Source]

Nepali worker commits suicide in the UAE [Source]

2 Emiratis, one of them a policeman, rape and then beat to death an Indonesian maid [Source]

Indian slave who was imprisoned for 3 years without pay was repatriated from Saudi Arabia [Source]

Bahrain: 2 Filipinos working for the Al Khalifa royal family have not been paid in 13 months [Source]

Indonesian migrant worker endured years of abuse [Source]

Indonesian maid attempts suicide in Al Baha, Saudi Arabia [Source]

Filipino maid found hanging in employers’ home in UAE [Source]

Video: Saudi man whipping a Bangladeshi garbage collector [Source]

Saudi Arabia: Indian maid injured while escaping her sponsors who locked her up and mistreated her [Source]

Oman: Unpaid migrants reduced to begging for food [Source]

30 Sri Lankan migrants go on a hunger strike in Iraq over months of unpaid wages [Source]

All of these cases took place very recently. Many might read these incidents once or twice a week, and could dismiss the abuse as infrequent. But these are just the cases that made it out to the media. If we continue to compile such lists day after day, you may safely consider this to be a mass crime approved by society and our governments, a crime with root causes that includes racism.

Of relevance, please read the following reports:

Kuwaiti Authorities Torture Migrant Workers to Death:

Two separate instances of Kuwaiti policemen and Ministry of Defense officials torturing migrant workers to death have surfaced in recent days.

Unfortunately, abuse of migrants by police are not unique in Kuwait. Recently, the Court of Appeals acquitted a policemen of torturing and raping two Filipinas. In April 2010 we’ve documented a previous case of kidnapping and raping of an Indonesian maid by a Kuwait police officer. In January 2010 a police officer in Kuwait admitted to raping women migrant workers for 15 years and then sending them off to the deportation center. On November 29, 2009 the Arab Times reported about the case of two maids who were kidnapped and gang-raped by a policemen and his friend and then sent to the deportation center. These reports illustrate how Kuwait state officials are able to abuse migrants with impunity. In these cases and many unreported ones the Kuwaiti police, which is supposed to protect abused workers, turns into another mechanism of oppression.

Read the full report here.

Every Two Days a Migrant Worker Attempts or Commits Suicide in Kuwait:

In a little over a month (35 days: February 19 – March 25), there have been 17 reported cases of migrant workers who committed or attempted to commit suicide in Kuwait. Local papers usually provide two sentences about each suicide in the “Crime” section, and their death is soon forgotten. Their nationality is sometimes mentioned, but names are not – it seems to interest no one. This harrowing trend is a reflection of poor working conditions, abuse from sponsors and the little protection migrant workers are offered in Kuwait.

Read the full report, with countless evidence of abuse, here.

Saudi “Justice”: Maid Torturer Acquitted

The horrific case of abuse of 23-year-old Sumiati Binti Salan Mustapa by her Saudi sponsor once again illustrates the injustice inherent in Saudi Arabia’s justice system. In January, Sumiati’s woman employer was sentenced to three years in prison for stabbing, beating and burning Sumiati. However, this week, a Saudi court acquitted the woman of all charges.

Read the full report here.

The list goes on. And on.

Further coverage from around the web can be found here:

What does it take to end this nightmare that millions of migrant workers are experiencing in our neighborhoods right this second?

I kinda lucked out with this one. A friend happened to get me into personal contact with Busac of Smouldering In Forgotten for an interview via email. As people know, I’m very fond of conversational interviews any way I can get it other than verbal. This was an interesting one that spanned a total of two weeks with a week of inactivity due to hurricane Irene interrupting my trip back home from a much needed two day vacation spent in Michigan. How the world works in the Mideast is opening up, if not ever so slowly, to those in the US and it’s a very positive thing. So many here hardly know anything about people living there and music helps bridge that gap. Interviews help even more in that vein and this one was excellent in that respect (and in every other way I might add). As always, enjoy the read and getting to know Busac!

What made each of you choose metal as the primary medium in which to express yourselves?

I suppose it just came naturally. We were all friends before starting the band and all had this common attitude and were interested in mostly the same music because we enjoyed all the chaotic aggression found in more extreme sides of metal.

How did you guys come to get into metal, never mind the more extreme sub-genres, in Bahrain? Consequently, how did you all meet and come to find that you had the same attitude/ideology?

Our main exposure to metal came from the Internet. A few years back, metal albums weren’t usually available in music shops around here, and if they were they’d usually be more mainstream bands. Nowadays, metal in Bahrain is growing little by little and albums are easier to come by. My personal experience and interest in this music primarily came from watching a local underground gig years ago, that atmosphere is what really encouraged me to listen to this type of music.

It’s because of small local gigs that our paths crossed and helped form a bond between people here. We all liked the dark atmosphere,and we all like the rebellious and independent nature behind the music and it inspired many of us.

Since it was so hard to find the music, I am betting that it was just as hard for you to pick up instruments when you finally decided to do so. Which instrument attracted you and how did you go about your search to acquire it? What was the learning process like? Were you able to find any teachers in Bahrain for the instrument?

Almost all metal musicians around here are self taught, which is also a reason why many get frustrated and give up. For myself, I started learning guitar almost 9 years ago on my own and then about 4 years ago started to learn drums too for the sake of the band to play live (there aren’t many drummers around here). The learning process was a bit difficult since there was no one to guide us in the right path, we relied on each other for support and encouragement. There are a few music institutes around the country but resources are very limited and are usually aimed more towards basic training only, not so much when it comes to a more advanced level.

So it seems that that made you guys come form closer relationships with each other than most people do in bands over here. I know that in Bahrain, metal is very much looked down upon by society. How do you deal with that and still stay committed to the music that you love? Is living a double life necessary?

Sometimes living a double life just happens on its own because people generally do find it odd that we play loud music such as this and they believe that it is still a phase that we will eventually grow out of. This is one of the bigger challenges we face here because not many people are willing to dedicate a lot towards their passion in music, so when society starts playing a negative role then it just kills it for them completely. The thing that really encouraged us was hearing positive reviews from our releases, usually coming from abroad through social networking sites or album reviews.

As such, what’s recording albums and playing live for you guys like? I’m pretty sure that you can’t record your stuff in professional studios over there, right? What’s the live scene like over there? Tell me about the first time that you ever played live in a band.

Things have been dead here for quite some time but have started to improve recently. We couldn’t find a proper studio at the time so we had to literally make our own out of a bedroom. We invested and took the time to learn the proper steps to make it happen, it was a real struggle. Our experiences playing live is the reward that comes from all the hard work, when we are finally able to see what our music means to people. My first live experience was in 2004, I was a guitarist in a cover band, as soon as I got on stage I knew this was where I wanted to be. Good thing is that within the last 2 years, the number of gigs is starting to increase and there is finally a professional studio opening up soon, Rabble Rouser Studios, for metal bands to record in.

That sounds great! It should also make things easier for bands looking to be signed. Being how small Bahrain is, I’m sure that that almost every metal musician knows about one another in some way. Would you say that you all help support each other despite any differences you may have in approach to music with one another? I read that Mardus played a large role in keeping musicians connected over there, in what way was he able to accomplish that?

Actually you described it perfectly. Metal fans around here form a small community, maybe even a family. I don’t think there are any two bands in the country who haven’t already played with each other in gigs at some point and remained in touch afterwords. We encourage each other, offer whatever help we can for other musicians, even provide facilities if we have any. For instance, my bedroom studio was used to record for many bands besides our own, including Narjahanam, Lunacyst, Extinction Imminent, Punks Not Patriots, Scarlet Tear, and even more solo acts that have yet to be released.

I wouldn’t say Mardus keeps musicians connected, but rather he is an inspiration to many people here, including myself, for having his own vision and actually being able to accomplish it with Smouldering In Forgotten as well as Narjahanam. I haven’t met that many vocalists over here who can growl like him, and moreover, I haven’t met many musicians in the region who can pull off Arabian styled metal as well as he did with Narjahanam.

Ah, I see. So he was one of the first successful musicians from your country, basically. Do musicians from your region tend to work with those from the surrounding countries as well, i.e., the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, etc? Where did you guys come up with the name “Smouldering in Forgotten” by the way? I’ve been wondering that for awhile.

We’ve had the opportunity to go do Dubai last year for a gig and are actually going there again late September to play in the “Obscura Live In Dubai” gig. Bands from Saudi, such as Sound of Ruby, have come over to Bahrain almost regularly for gigs, Nervecell once came to Bahrain too a short while ago. The only band we worked with in terms of writing music was Al Namrood from Saudi Arabia, Mardus agreed to be a session vocalist for one album and it was recorded in my bedroom studio.

“Smouldering In Forgotten” is a phrase in the song “Upon This Deathbed Of Cold Fire” by Goatwhore. This band was a big influence on us at the time we started the band and it just sounded cool.

Reading your lyrics, they’re very interesting. What inspires them and who does the lyric writing for the band? Also, you mentioned Goatwhore being a huge influence on you guys, any other bands influence your sound as much? Where did you guys get the artwork for your albums? They’re pretty damn good, especially for your 2010 release.

The lyrics were a journey of their own that took a whole year to get done. For our last album, we worked with a good friend of ours, Hammers. He has always supported us so we wanted to involve him in this release somehow. We know he’s an amazing story teller so we sat in lots of brainstorming sessions before deciding to tell a whole story throughout the album, with each track representing a certain event leading to the next. We won’t reveal the details of the story though, you need to do that on your own through the lyrics. All I can say is that it revolves around many themes like revenge, insanity, myths, war… etc.

Goatwhore was definitely a big influence when we first started the band and it really shows in our album “Legions Into Black Flames” in terms of music. By the next release we decided to add a little more variety from other genres, making it more atmospheric, a bit of death metal here and there, some thrash, classical, and even gothic at one point. So it’s a little difficult to name the influences there, it was just a whole lot of experimentation.

The artwork of “I, Devourer” was done by Killustrations, really amazing artist with a twisted taste, definitely a wonderful opportunity to have worked with him. The artwork of the previous releases were designed by us.

For you personally, what keeps you motivated to do what you do, i.e. creating music and helping musicians around you?

For me, it’s just seeing how people react and respond to my music that motivates me. I’m not saying I’m an amazing musician or composer, but I’ve been getting positive reviews so far so that lets me know that I’m on the right track. This is also what makes me want to help people because I know that not everyone has the resources or the time to do everything they want to. I was fortunate enough to be able to commit enough of my time to learn how the recording process works, but others don’t always have this time. If not me, then who?

Creating music is an almost entirely different story though, I can never trigger it no matter how hard I tried. Sometimes it just hits me and I already have a full vision of a song and sometimes I feel like I struggle for months before writing anything. It’s hard to determine what really does it for me, but I try and maintain a certain level of quality in anything I write so I end up not using and forgetting many things I come up with.

Does your interest in music extend to other styles or do you just stick to the extreme genres of metal? Do you have any long term plans for yourself in music? Is there are particular goal that you want to achieve before you are able to “retire” with satisfaction? How does Smoldering In Forgotten fit into those plans?

We occasionally write stuff besides metal, it’s usually more geared towards classical I suppose, an example of this was the ending of “Spiritus Nes Sancti,” that ending inspired the rest of the song. I personally try to explore other music styles as well, as evident in the band Scarlet Tear. Give it a listen and I hope you enjoy it.

My only goal is to go wherever my music takes me. Right now I’m planning on studying music at a well established college, but other than that, I guess we just want to leave our mark in Bahrain’s metal music history.

Seems like you’ve left a pretty nice mark so far. I would like to thank you for doing this interview with me, it’s been a great pleasure and I learned quite a bit about the music scene there. As a closing remark, please describe four our readers one of the greatest hurdles that you’ve had and how you’ve overcome it while transversing your still evolving path as a metal musician in Bahrain.

All I can say is to stay true to yourself and you’ll find your own way to get your message across. All our biggest challenges would have been easily avoided if we decided to take an easier way out, but on the other hand, it’s these challenges that make it all worthwhile in the end.

I also want to thank you for giving me the pleasure of being in this interview. It’s certainly a first time for me to take part in a 2 week interview.

In Syria, Syrian security forces have shot dead at least seven protesters on the first day of the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday. Protests erupted in many towns and cities on Tuesday morning, after Muslims performed the Eid prayer marking the end of Ramadan then took to the streets in mass protests against the Assad regime and the atrocities it had been committing against the Syrians for the past five and a half months. The Local Co-ordination Committees (LCC) activist network said six of the deaths occurred in the southern province of Daraa and one in Homs in what continues to be a harsh crackdown imposed by the Assad regime over protesters and activists ever since the eruption of the #Mar15 revolution in Syria.

In Bahrain, a 14-year old boy with the name of Ali Jawwad has been reported killed by Bahraini security forces during a protest in Sitra against the al-Khalifa regime after he was directly hit by a tear gas canister on his head fired at a close range, Bahrain’s Ministry of Health stated that a 14-year-old boy was killed but gave no details as to the circumstances of his death. This marks as the 32nd civilian that has been killed by the regime ever since the beginning of a civil uprising in Bahrain on #Feb14 that had been oppressed by both the al-Khalifa regime and the GCC’s Peninsula Shield forces.

In Nigeria, tensions between Christians and Muslims over the Muslim holiday Eid have resulted in the deaths of at least 20 people in the central Nigerian city of Jos. Sectarian violence broke out after Christian youths attacked Muslims trying to perform worship in a mosque that had been burned in previous clashes in that city, the military was called in to put an end to the violence and shot at the crowd, most of the deaths are reported to be caused by the military forces. The clashes are part of ongoing violence that began with last Christmas Eve’s bomb blasts in two Christian communities in Jos, the state capital that lies on a faith-based fault line between Muslim-dominated northern Nigeria and the mainly Christian southern Nigeria, ever since then both Muslims and Christians have been killed based on their religious identity.

In Denmark, one man was killed and two more wounded in a shoot-out outside a mosque in central Copenhagen, the attacks came as worshippers left the mosque after the Eid prayers, according to witnesses it was a drive-by shooting and around 20 bullets were fired from what seemed to be a hand gun. The police confirmed that the man had died within minutes after he was shot three times in the head, and that a second 50-year-old man was being treated in hospital. A third person, who rushed away in a private car, was shot in the leg.

What a sad way to mark the end of a holy month and begin what should have been the festivities of a beautiful Eid. What should have been a day of celebration will be a day of mourning for all those families, whose loved ones ended up in the morgue rather than at their homes on that day.