Recently, we reported Yanita’s experiences with the Gulf’s unfair and overzealous Tuberculosis (TB) deportation policies. Mark, a migrant worker from Manila, shares his own, similar encounters with the GCC’s TB laws below:
Mark was first diagnosed with minimal pulmonary TB in September…
Another Story of TB and Discrimination
November 4th, 2011
Philippines toughens rules for maids in Gulf – can it make a difference?
November 2nd, 2011
Gulf Housemaids Sponsorship UAE Women
The kafala or sponsorship system in the Gulf should be abolished, this is an absolute prerequisite for the full personhood and humanization of domestic workers. The Philippine government's new standards for overseas domestic workers and tentative bans on 41 non-compliant host countries are praiseworthy but far from promising--it is highly doubtful that this cosmetically laudable "concrete plan" will make it far off of the pages of the government’s issuance.
Kaisa Ka (Unity of Women for Freedom)
November 1st, 2011
On October 24, 2011 the Philippines played host to the three-day Asia Regional Conference on “Advocacy towards the Ratification and Implementation of ILO Convention 189 on Domestic Workers”. With an estimated 100 million domestic workers worldwide, international labor standards that ensure the s...
Dated TB Laws Do More Harm Than Good
October 31st, 2011
Deportation Gulf Legislation UAE
The social and medical effects of the GCC’s controversial tuberculosis (TB) deportation laws may not be worth the supposed advantages. The UAE deports individuals with active, new, or old pulmonary TB scars. Health officials claim to only deport newcomers, and not long-term residents. But thi...
Migrant Rights and The Arab Spring
October 29th, 2011
With the Arab Spring’s first post-revolutionary election tallied only days ago, it’s difficult to gauge the impact these new governments will have on migrant rights. But, we can assess the movement’s affect on foreign workers up to this point, as well as measure the inclusiveness o...
Saudi Limits Remittances
October 27th, 2011
Saudi Arabia announced recently that it will limit the income migrant workers are permitted to send home. The Labour Minister stated the new “Salary Protection Program” will prevent the ‘exodus’ of wealth leaving the nation in the form of remittances. He did not specify the p...
Embassy Acts as Sanctuary for Absconding Citizens
October 25th, 2011
Kuwaiti authorities are receiving complaints about an unnamed African Embassy protecting citizens that have absconded from their employers. Absconding, which involves leaving an employer in some manner without their consent, is a criminal offense under the Kuwaiti sponsorship system. The system bind...
Family of a maid who died in Jordan demanding investigation
October 24th, 2011
The family of Subhani M Lurdu, a Sri Lankan maid who reportedly died on the 17th of October during her employment in Jordan, is requesting an investigation. They’re also requesting that her body is sent back to Sri Lanka. Subhani was only 27 years old, and the mother of 3 young children. Her ...
30 Distressed Filipino workers seek repatriation
October 24th, 2011
Abusive employers Gulf Housemaids Oman Recruitment Agencies Trafficking Women
There are 30 plus distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), all women, in Oman temporarily seeking refuge at the Philippine Embassy’s Filipino Workers Resource Center (FWRC), according to a Filipino migrants rights group providing assistance to distressed and abused OFWs. Migrante-Middle East r...
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