Tuesday, 19 April 2011
Some 3 million Asian men and women migrate each year to other Asian countries and the Gulf states. (File photo)
Ministers from Asian labor-sending countries meeting in Dhaka this week should together endorse protections for migrant workers, a number of human rights organizations said Tuesday.
The organizations, which included Human Rights Watch, Migrant Forum in Asia, and CARAM Asia, said that the ministers should give priority to protecting migrant domestic workers. These workers are at especially high risk of abuse, the organizations said in a report. They also urged the ministers to take steps to end recruitment-related exploitation.
The Asian ministers are meeting from April 19 to 21 in the capital city of Dhaka, where Bangladesh will host the “Colombo Process,” a series of regional consultative meetings on Asian contractual migrant workers. Delegates from 11 Asian countries that send large numbers of workers abroad and labor-receiving countries from Asia and the Middle East will attend.
The organizations, which included Human Rights Watch, Migrant Forum in Asia, and CARAM Asia, said that the ministers should give priority to protecting migrant domestic workers. These workers are at especially high risk of abuse, the organizations said in a report. They also urged the ministers to take steps to end recruitment-related exploitation.
The Asian ministers are meeting from April 19 to 21 in the capital city of Dhaka, where Bangladesh will host the “Colombo Process,” a series of regional consultative meetings on Asian contractual migrant workers. Delegates from 11 Asian countries that send large numbers of workers abroad and labor-receiving countries from Asia and the Middle East will attend.
“Abuses against migrants are often linked to gaps in information, poor coordination, and competition for jobs, so it’s a big deal for these governments to sit around the table and address these problems together,” said Nisha Varia, senior women’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The Dhaka meeting is also a chance to share information about successful reforms with other countries in the region.”
Some 3 million Asian men and women migrate each year, many working in domestic service, construction, manufacturing, and agriculture in other Asian countries and the Gulf States. Migrant workers play a key economic role–they fill labor demands in host countries and in 2010, Asian migrants sent home an estimated $175 billion in remittances.
Inadequate protections mean migrants also risk an array of abuses, the groups said, including recruitment-related deception and debts, unpaid wages, hazardous working conditions, physical and sexual abuse, and forced labor, including human trafficking. Unlicensed recruiters often operate with impunity, migrants have limited information about their rights and channels to seek help, and immigration policies can trap workers with abusive employers.
According to the report, doctors in Sri Lanka on August 27, 2010, operated on Lahadapurage Daneris Ariyawathie, 49, to remove nails and metal objects she said her employers had hammered into her body after she complained of being overworked.
In 2008, a 28-year-old Indonesian domestic worker, Keni binti Carda, accused her employer of burning her repeatedly with a hot iron all over her body, prying her teeth out, and subjecting her to psychological abuse including murder threats. She was only able to report her allegations of abuse at the airport upon return to Indonesia.
Nour Miyati, an Indonesian domestic worker, sustained serious injuries and lost her fingers due to gangrene in 2005 after her employer locked her up, physically and verbally abused her, and deprived her of food. Her employers then filed a countercharge against Miyati for making false accusations, for which a court sentenced her to 79 lashes. Another court subsequently overturned her conviction, but then dropped the charges against her employer in 2008 despite strong evidence, including her employer’s confession and medical reports indicating physical abuse.
Asian and Middle Eastern governments have introduced incremental reforms in recent years, and this year’s forum will provide an opportunity to share best practices. But uneven bargaining power between sending and receiving countries means that the resulting agreements are often weak.
“Even though migrants from Asia confront similar abuses while working abroad, their governments have typically addressed these bilaterally, and the results have been far weaker protections than if they negotiated together,” said Mohammad Harun Al Rashid, regional coordinator for CARAM Asia.
The International Organization for Migration provides technical support to the Colombo Process and serves as its secretariat. The labor-sending countries attending the Colombo Process include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam. Eight observer members represent countries of employment: Bahrain, Italy, Kuwait, Malaysia, Qatar, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
(Umita Raghu Venkataraman of Al Arabiya can be reached at: Umita.venkataraman@mbc.net)
Some 3 million Asian men and women migrate each year, many working in domestic service, construction, manufacturing, and agriculture in other Asian countries and the Gulf States. Migrant workers play a key economic role–they fill labor demands in host countries and in 2010, Asian migrants sent home an estimated $175 billion in remittances.
Inadequate protections mean migrants also risk an array of abuses, the groups said, including recruitment-related deception and debts, unpaid wages, hazardous working conditions, physical and sexual abuse, and forced labor, including human trafficking. Unlicensed recruiters often operate with impunity, migrants have limited information about their rights and channels to seek help, and immigration policies can trap workers with abusive employers.
According to the report, doctors in Sri Lanka on August 27, 2010, operated on Lahadapurage Daneris Ariyawathie, 49, to remove nails and metal objects she said her employers had hammered into her body after she complained of being overworked.
In 2008, a 28-year-old Indonesian domestic worker, Keni binti Carda, accused her employer of burning her repeatedly with a hot iron all over her body, prying her teeth out, and subjecting her to psychological abuse including murder threats. She was only able to report her allegations of abuse at the airport upon return to Indonesia.
Nour Miyati, an Indonesian domestic worker, sustained serious injuries and lost her fingers due to gangrene in 2005 after her employer locked her up, physically and verbally abused her, and deprived her of food. Her employers then filed a countercharge against Miyati for making false accusations, for which a court sentenced her to 79 lashes. Another court subsequently overturned her conviction, but then dropped the charges against her employer in 2008 despite strong evidence, including her employer’s confession and medical reports indicating physical abuse.
Asian and Middle Eastern governments have introduced incremental reforms in recent years, and this year’s forum will provide an opportunity to share best practices. But uneven bargaining power between sending and receiving countries means that the resulting agreements are often weak.
“Even though migrants from Asia confront similar abuses while working abroad, their governments have typically addressed these bilaterally, and the results have been far weaker protections than if they negotiated together,” said Mohammad Harun Al Rashid, regional coordinator for CARAM Asia.
The International Organization for Migration provides technical support to the Colombo Process and serves as its secretariat. The labor-sending countries attending the Colombo Process include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam. Eight observer members represent countries of employment: Bahrain, Italy, Kuwait, Malaysia, Qatar, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
(Umita Raghu Venkataraman of Al Arabiya can be reached at: Umita.venkataraman@mbc.net)
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