Mar 10, Colombo : Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau has commenced a programme to register the persons who have returned to the home country after working overseas.
The Chairman of the Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau Kingsley Ranawaka said that over 50,000 ex-migrant workers had registered themselves under this programme.
The programme, commenced recently, aims to guarantee the future of the ex-migrant workers and to obtain their services for the country, said Mr. Ranawaka. He added that the problems of the ex-migrant workers would be addressed and they would be provided with guidance and welfare under this programme.
The Chairman urged the ex-migrant workers to register as soon as possible at the nearest regional offices of the Foreign Employment Bureau.
International labor migration from Sri Lanka has remarkably grown over the last decades, with numbers increasing more than tenfold, according to the Central Bank, Annual Report 2008.
The total number of out migrants from Sri Lanka on employment abroad was estimated at 1.8 million. Annual outflow of workers is about 250,000 people. In 2007, the equivalent of 23% of total employment generated and 21% of Sri Lanka 's labor force was made up by foreign employment.
Migrant remittances are a mainstay of the Lankan economy, accounting for about 7% of GDP and 36% of export earnings.
SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka .
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Sri Lankan Migration To The Gulf: Female Breadwinners — Domestic Workers
By Michele Ruth Gamburd for MEI
Several waves of Sri Lankan migration have taken place since the country gained independence in 1948. Beginning in the mid-1950s, wealthy, educated, English-speaking elites have migrated to Commonwealth countries such as Australia and the United Kingdom. In addition, since the upsurge in ethnic hostilities in the early 1980s, Tamil speaking Hindu migrants have left the country, with many settling in Canada. In contrast with these permanent migrants, since 1976 a growing number of Sri Lankans have become migrant workers. The leading destination for this migrant labor force — the majority of whom are women — has been the Gulf.
The Scale and Composition of Sri Lankan Labor Migrants
In 2003, the Sri Lankan Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE), the main administrative body regulating labor migration, estimated that 1,003,600 Sri Lankans worked abroad.1 By 2008, this number had increased to 1,792,368, or 9% of the island’s 20 million people. From the late 1980s until as recently as 2007, women made up the majority of these labor migrants. They accounted for 75% of the migrant flow in the mid-1990s, and by 2008 declined to a little under 50%. Of the migrant women, 88% went to work as housemaids.2 In much of the global North, such migrant transnational domestic workers meet the needs of the global “care deficit,” reflecting a global trend in outsourcing domestic labor to women from less developed countries. In contrast, transnational domestic servants in the Middle East free their sponsors for leisure, supporting a socially significant lifestyle.
In recent years, Sri Lankan officials have actively encouraged male migration. The male guest workers fill more diverse roles, with skilled and unskilled laborers making up roughly equal percentages of the male migrants (42% and 41% respectively in 2008).
Main Destination Countries
Most Sri Lankan migrants (92%), both male and female, journey to the Gulf, with four countries (Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, and Qatar) absorbing over 80% of Sri Lanka’s workers. In the Gulf, Sri Lankan women share the market for migrant domestic workers with women from Indonesia, the Philippines, and several other countries. Racial, ethnic, religious, and national stereotypes predetermine wages. For example, in the UAE in 2004, housemaids from the Philippines were paid more than those from Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, and Bangladesh, in that order.3
Most Sri Lankan housemaids go abroad on two-year contracts and live in their employers’ residences. Live-in housemaids have less autonomy and lower salaries than women with part-time or live-out arrangements. The isolation of the work situation can lead to abuse and exploitation.
Domestic workers’ legal protections vary from country to country. In many Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, labor laws cover male laborers but do not protect household workers.4 Labor regulations do apply to foreign domestic servants working in other areas in Asia, the European Union, and the United States, but may not be enforced against middle- and upper-class employers.5
Sri Lankan Sojourners as Temporary Migrants in the Gulf
Guest workers form a crucial aspect of local economies in the Gulf. Overall, foreigners make up an estimated 37-43% of the population of the GCC countries and constitute 70% of the workforce, with workforce numbers rising significantly higher in the UAE (90%), Kuwait (82%), and Qatar (90%).6 Most GCC countries have a de facto dual economy, with well paid, non-strenuous public-sector jobs created for “nationals” and poorly paid, difficult, low-status, private sector jobs performed by foreigners.
The high percentage of guest workers worries government officials. Accordingly, governments have legislated to minimize the perceived threat. Restrictions on length of stay, strict regulations about changing jobs, hurdles imposed by the sponsorship system, difficult-to-meet criteria for bringing in family members, the inability to own land and businesses, the near-impossibility of obtaining citizenship, and the absence of legal rights all work to keep guest workers’ stays short, temporary, or informal.7 Although Sri Lankans migrate to Australia, Canada, and the UK with plans to settle there, most sojourners in the Gulf do not hope to assimilate permanently into the host country.
Incentives for Sri Lankan Transnational Domestic Migrants
There are both national-level and family-level incentives for Sri Lankans to migrate. On the national level, migrant laborers’ remittances contribute significantly to Sri Lanka’s foreign exchange earnings. In 2008, total remittances stood at SLR 316,118 million, or roughly $2.87 billion (converted at $1 = SLR 110). Nearly 60% of this total, SLR 189,039 million or $1.72 billion, came from the Gulf. In generating foreign earnings, private remittances (36%) come second after Sri Lanka’s large garment industry (40%). Clearly the country has a great financial stake in the remittances generated by migrant laborers, particularly those working in the Gulf.
Migration alleviates unemployment among the poorer segments of Sri Lanka’s population. Locally available jobs are mostly poorly paid and temporary, particularly for women. Although transnational domestic workers earn only an average of $100 a month while abroad, this is between two and five times what women could earn working in Sri Lanka, and equals or exceeds the wages earned by most village men. Migrant women consistently assert that families cannot make ends meet on their husbands’ salaries, and say that migration to the Middle East is their only available economic alternative. Family motives for migration usually include getting out of debt, buying land, and building a house. Women also state that they would like to support their family’s daily consumption needs, educate their children, and provide dowries for themselves or their daughters. Participants in the decision-making process (undergone repeatedly for migrants who return several times to the Gulf) weigh financial necessity and household improvements against separation, incursion of loans, and alternate arrangements for childcare.
Migrant women often become the sole or most significant breadwinners for their families. Several studies suggest that each migrant woman supports four to five members of her family; figures for migrant men are likely similar.8 In 2003, the SLBFE estimated that migrant laborers made up 14% of the total number of employed Sri Lankans. By 2008, this figure had jumped to 25%. A significant and growing percentage of Sri Lankan families are thus directly dependent on Gulf remittances.
Conclusion
Labor migration to the Gulf has become a core feature of Sri Lankans’ economic strategies at the family and national levels. Migration is likely to continue in the future. Trends will depend upon several factors: Sri Lanka’s success in diversifying its migrants’ destination countries; its economic growth and the local availability of desirable jobs; and its continued capacity to send care workers abroad while tending to an aging population at home.
Michele Ruth Gamburd is Professor of Anthropology at Portland State University. She is the author of The Kitchen Spoon’s Handle: Transnationalism and Sri Lanka’s Migrant Housemaids (Cornell University Press, 2000) and Breaking the Ashes: The Culture of Illicit Liquor in Sri Lanka (Cornell University Press, 2008).
This article was first published in Viewpoints: Migration and the Gulf, February 2010 (PDF) published by the Middle East Institute (MEI), pages 13-15, and is reprinted here with permission.
NOTES:
1. Statistical information in this article comes from the Sri Lankan Bureau of Foreign Employment’s Annual Statistical Report of Foreign Employment 2008, which can be found online at http://slbfe.lk/downloads/Annual Statistical Report 2008 - SLBFE.pdf.
2. In Sri Lanka, domestic servants are often referred to as “housemaids” in both English and Sinhala. These migrant women’s duties often exceed the narrow technical limits of the term.
3. Michele Gamburd, “Advocating for Sri Lankan Migrant Workers: Obstacles and Challenges,” Critical Asian Studies, Vol. 41, No. 1 (2009), p. 70.
4. Regarding Saudi Arabia, see Graeme Hugo, “Indonesian International Domestic Workers: Contemporary Developments and Issues,” in Shirlena Huang, Brenda S.A. Yeoh, and Noor Abdul Rahman, eds., Asian Women as Transnational Domestic Workers (Singapore: Marshall Cavendish, 2005), p. 83; regarding the UAE, see Gamburd, “Advocating for Sri Lankan Migrant Workers,” p. 66; regarding the UAE and Kuwait, see Karen Leonard, “South Asian Workers in the Gulf: Jockeying for Places,” in Richard Warren Perry and Bill Maurer, eds., Globalization under Construction: Governmentality, Law, and Identity (Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2003), pp. 134, 153.
5. Pei-Chia Lan, “Surrogate Family, Disposable Labour and Stratified Others: Transnational Domestic Workers in Taiwan,” in Shirlena Huang, Brenda S.A. Yeoh, and Noor Abdul Rahman, eds., Asian Women as Transnational Domestic Workers, (Singapore: Marshall Cavendish, 2005), p. 227; Vivienne Wee and Amy Sim, “Hong Kong as a Destination for Migrant Domestic Workers,” in Shirlena Huang, Brenda S.A. Yeoh, and Noor Abdul Rahman, eds., Asian Women as Transnational Domestic Workers, (Singapore: Marshall Cavendish, 2005), p. 193.
6. Andrzej Kapiszewski, “Arab Versus Asian Migrant Workers in the GCC Countries.” Paper presented at the United Nations Expert Group Meeting on International Migration and Development in the Arab Region, United Nations Secretariat, Beirut, Lebanon, May 15-17, 2006, p. 4; Sulayman Khalaf and Saad Alkobaisiet, “Migrants’ Strategies of Coping and Patterns of Accommodation in the Oil-Rich Gulf Societies: Evidence from the UAE,” British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Vol. 26, No. 2 (1999), p. 272; Leonard, “South Asian Workers in the Gulf,” p. 133.
7. Sulayman Khalaf, “Gulf Societies and the Image of Unlimited Good,” Dialectical Anthropology, Vol. 17 (1992), p. 72; Khalaf and Alkobaisi, “Migrants’ Strategies of Coping,” p. 294; Ahn Nga Longva, Walls Build on Sand: Migration, Exclusion, and Society in Kuwait (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1997).
8. Swarna Jayaweera, Malsiri Dias, and Leelangi Wanasundera, Returnee Migrant Women in Two Locations in Sri Lanka: (Colombo, Sri Lanka: CENWOR, 2002), p. 1; Nedra Weerakoon, “Sri Lanka: A Caste Study of International Female Labour Migration,” in S. Sta. M. Amparita, J.J. Balisnono, R. Plaetevoet, and R. Selwyn, eds., Legal Protection for Asian Women Migrant Workers: Strategies for Action, (Makati City, Philippines: Ateneo Human Rights Center, 1998), p. 109.
Several waves of Sri Lankan migration have taken place since the country gained independence in 1948. Beginning in the mid-1950s, wealthy, educated, English-speaking elites have migrated to Commonwealth countries such as Australia and the United Kingdom. In addition, since the upsurge in ethnic hostilities in the early 1980s, Tamil speaking Hindu migrants have left the country, with many settling in Canada. In contrast with these permanent migrants, since 1976 a growing number of Sri Lankans have become migrant workers. The leading destination for this migrant labor force — the majority of whom are women — has been the Gulf.
The Scale and Composition of Sri Lankan Labor Migrants
In 2003, the Sri Lankan Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE), the main administrative body regulating labor migration, estimated that 1,003,600 Sri Lankans worked abroad.1 By 2008, this number had increased to 1,792,368, or 9% of the island’s 20 million people. From the late 1980s until as recently as 2007, women made up the majority of these labor migrants. They accounted for 75% of the migrant flow in the mid-1990s, and by 2008 declined to a little under 50%. Of the migrant women, 88% went to work as housemaids.2 In much of the global North, such migrant transnational domestic workers meet the needs of the global “care deficit,” reflecting a global trend in outsourcing domestic labor to women from less developed countries. In contrast, transnational domestic servants in the Middle East free their sponsors for leisure, supporting a socially significant lifestyle.
In recent years, Sri Lankan officials have actively encouraged male migration. The male guest workers fill more diverse roles, with skilled and unskilled laborers making up roughly equal percentages of the male migrants (42% and 41% respectively in 2008).
Main Destination Countries
Most Sri Lankan migrants (92%), both male and female, journey to the Gulf, with four countries (Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, and Qatar) absorbing over 80% of Sri Lanka’s workers. In the Gulf, Sri Lankan women share the market for migrant domestic workers with women from Indonesia, the Philippines, and several other countries. Racial, ethnic, religious, and national stereotypes predetermine wages. For example, in the UAE in 2004, housemaids from the Philippines were paid more than those from Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, and Bangladesh, in that order.3
Most Sri Lankan housemaids go abroad on two-year contracts and live in their employers’ residences. Live-in housemaids have less autonomy and lower salaries than women with part-time or live-out arrangements. The isolation of the work situation can lead to abuse and exploitation.
Domestic workers’ legal protections vary from country to country. In many Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, labor laws cover male laborers but do not protect household workers.4 Labor regulations do apply to foreign domestic servants working in other areas in Asia, the European Union, and the United States, but may not be enforced against middle- and upper-class employers.5
Sri Lankan Sojourners as Temporary Migrants in the Gulf
Guest workers form a crucial aspect of local economies in the Gulf. Overall, foreigners make up an estimated 37-43% of the population of the GCC countries and constitute 70% of the workforce, with workforce numbers rising significantly higher in the UAE (90%), Kuwait (82%), and Qatar (90%).6 Most GCC countries have a de facto dual economy, with well paid, non-strenuous public-sector jobs created for “nationals” and poorly paid, difficult, low-status, private sector jobs performed by foreigners.
The high percentage of guest workers worries government officials. Accordingly, governments have legislated to minimize the perceived threat. Restrictions on length of stay, strict regulations about changing jobs, hurdles imposed by the sponsorship system, difficult-to-meet criteria for bringing in family members, the inability to own land and businesses, the near-impossibility of obtaining citizenship, and the absence of legal rights all work to keep guest workers’ stays short, temporary, or informal.7 Although Sri Lankans migrate to Australia, Canada, and the UK with plans to settle there, most sojourners in the Gulf do not hope to assimilate permanently into the host country.
Incentives for Sri Lankan Transnational Domestic Migrants
There are both national-level and family-level incentives for Sri Lankans to migrate. On the national level, migrant laborers’ remittances contribute significantly to Sri Lanka’s foreign exchange earnings. In 2008, total remittances stood at SLR 316,118 million, or roughly $2.87 billion (converted at $1 = SLR 110). Nearly 60% of this total, SLR 189,039 million or $1.72 billion, came from the Gulf. In generating foreign earnings, private remittances (36%) come second after Sri Lanka’s large garment industry (40%). Clearly the country has a great financial stake in the remittances generated by migrant laborers, particularly those working in the Gulf.
Migration alleviates unemployment among the poorer segments of Sri Lanka’s population. Locally available jobs are mostly poorly paid and temporary, particularly for women. Although transnational domestic workers earn only an average of $100 a month while abroad, this is between two and five times what women could earn working in Sri Lanka, and equals or exceeds the wages earned by most village men. Migrant women consistently assert that families cannot make ends meet on their husbands’ salaries, and say that migration to the Middle East is their only available economic alternative. Family motives for migration usually include getting out of debt, buying land, and building a house. Women also state that they would like to support their family’s daily consumption needs, educate their children, and provide dowries for themselves or their daughters. Participants in the decision-making process (undergone repeatedly for migrants who return several times to the Gulf) weigh financial necessity and household improvements against separation, incursion of loans, and alternate arrangements for childcare.
Migrant women often become the sole or most significant breadwinners for their families. Several studies suggest that each migrant woman supports four to five members of her family; figures for migrant men are likely similar.8 In 2003, the SLBFE estimated that migrant laborers made up 14% of the total number of employed Sri Lankans. By 2008, this figure had jumped to 25%. A significant and growing percentage of Sri Lankan families are thus directly dependent on Gulf remittances.
Conclusion
Labor migration to the Gulf has become a core feature of Sri Lankans’ economic strategies at the family and national levels. Migration is likely to continue in the future. Trends will depend upon several factors: Sri Lanka’s success in diversifying its migrants’ destination countries; its economic growth and the local availability of desirable jobs; and its continued capacity to send care workers abroad while tending to an aging population at home.
Michele Ruth Gamburd is Professor of Anthropology at Portland State University. She is the author of The Kitchen Spoon’s Handle: Transnationalism and Sri Lanka’s Migrant Housemaids (Cornell University Press, 2000) and Breaking the Ashes: The Culture of Illicit Liquor in Sri Lanka (Cornell University Press, 2008).
This article was first published in Viewpoints: Migration and the Gulf, February 2010 (PDF) published by the Middle East Institute (MEI), pages 13-15, and is reprinted here with permission.
NOTES:
1. Statistical information in this article comes from the Sri Lankan Bureau of Foreign Employment’s Annual Statistical Report of Foreign Employment 2008, which can be found online at http://slbfe.lk/downloads/Annual Statistical Report 2008 - SLBFE.pdf.
2. In Sri Lanka, domestic servants are often referred to as “housemaids” in both English and Sinhala. These migrant women’s duties often exceed the narrow technical limits of the term.
3. Michele Gamburd, “Advocating for Sri Lankan Migrant Workers: Obstacles and Challenges,” Critical Asian Studies, Vol. 41, No. 1 (2009), p. 70.
4. Regarding Saudi Arabia, see Graeme Hugo, “Indonesian International Domestic Workers: Contemporary Developments and Issues,” in Shirlena Huang, Brenda S.A. Yeoh, and Noor Abdul Rahman, eds., Asian Women as Transnational Domestic Workers (Singapore: Marshall Cavendish, 2005), p. 83; regarding the UAE, see Gamburd, “Advocating for Sri Lankan Migrant Workers,” p. 66; regarding the UAE and Kuwait, see Karen Leonard, “South Asian Workers in the Gulf: Jockeying for Places,” in Richard Warren Perry and Bill Maurer, eds., Globalization under Construction: Governmentality, Law, and Identity (Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2003), pp. 134, 153.
5. Pei-Chia Lan, “Surrogate Family, Disposable Labour and Stratified Others: Transnational Domestic Workers in Taiwan,” in Shirlena Huang, Brenda S.A. Yeoh, and Noor Abdul Rahman, eds., Asian Women as Transnational Domestic Workers, (Singapore: Marshall Cavendish, 2005), p. 227; Vivienne Wee and Amy Sim, “Hong Kong as a Destination for Migrant Domestic Workers,” in Shirlena Huang, Brenda S.A. Yeoh, and Noor Abdul Rahman, eds., Asian Women as Transnational Domestic Workers, (Singapore: Marshall Cavendish, 2005), p. 193.
6. Andrzej Kapiszewski, “Arab Versus Asian Migrant Workers in the GCC Countries.” Paper presented at the United Nations Expert Group Meeting on International Migration and Development in the Arab Region, United Nations Secretariat, Beirut, Lebanon, May 15-17, 2006, p. 4; Sulayman Khalaf and Saad Alkobaisiet, “Migrants’ Strategies of Coping and Patterns of Accommodation in the Oil-Rich Gulf Societies: Evidence from the UAE,” British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Vol. 26, No. 2 (1999), p. 272; Leonard, “South Asian Workers in the Gulf,” p. 133.
7. Sulayman Khalaf, “Gulf Societies and the Image of Unlimited Good,” Dialectical Anthropology, Vol. 17 (1992), p. 72; Khalaf and Alkobaisi, “Migrants’ Strategies of Coping,” p. 294; Ahn Nga Longva, Walls Build on Sand: Migration, Exclusion, and Society in Kuwait (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1997).
8. Swarna Jayaweera, Malsiri Dias, and Leelangi Wanasundera, Returnee Migrant Women in Two Locations in Sri Lanka: (Colombo, Sri Lanka: CENWOR, 2002), p. 1; Nedra Weerakoon, “Sri Lanka: A Caste Study of International Female Labour Migration,” in S. Sta. M. Amparita, J.J. Balisnono, R. Plaetevoet, and R. Selwyn, eds., Legal Protection for Asian Women Migrant Workers: Strategies for Action, (Makati City, Philippines: Ateneo Human Rights Center, 1998), p. 109.
Ex-migrant workers of Sri Lanka are to be registered
Wed, Mar 10, 2010, 07:44 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka .
Mar 10, Colombo : Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau has commenced a programme to register the persons who have returned to the home country after working overseas.
The Chairman of the Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau Kingsley Ranawaka said that over 50,000 ex-migrant workers had registered themselves under this programme.
The programme, commenced recently, aims to guarantee the future of the ex-migrant workers and to obtain their services for the country, said Mr. Ranawaka. He added that the problems of the ex-migrant workers would be addressed and they would be provided with guidance and welfare under this programme.
The Chairman urged the ex-migrant workers to register as soon as possible at the nearest regional offices of the Foreign Employment Bureau.
International labor migration from Sri Lanka has remarkably grown over the last decades, with numbers increasing more than tenfold, according to the Central Bank, Annual Report 2008.
The total number of out migrants from Sri Lanka on employment abroad was estimated at 1.8 million. Annual outflow of workers is about 250,000 people. In 2007, the equivalent of 23% of total employment generated and 21% of Sri Lanka 's labor force was made up by foreign employment.
Migrant remittances are a mainstay of the Lankan economy, accounting for about 7% of GDP and 36% of export earnings.
Mar 10, Colombo : Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau has commenced a programme to register the persons who have returned to the home country after working overseas.
The Chairman of the Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau Kingsley Ranawaka said that over 50,000 ex-migrant workers had registered themselves under this programme.
The programme, commenced recently, aims to guarantee the future of the ex-migrant workers and to obtain their services for the country, said Mr. Ranawaka. He added that the problems of the ex-migrant workers would be addressed and they would be provided with guidance and welfare under this programme.
The Chairman urged the ex-migrant workers to register as soon as possible at the nearest regional offices of the Foreign Employment Bureau.
International labor migration from Sri Lanka has remarkably grown over the last decades, with numbers increasing more than tenfold, according to the Central Bank, Annual Report 2008.
The total number of out migrants from Sri Lanka on employment abroad was estimated at 1.8 million. Annual outflow of workers is about 250,000 people. In 2007, the equivalent of 23% of total employment generated and 21% of Sri Lanka 's labor force was made up by foreign employment.
Migrant remittances are a mainstay of the Lankan economy, accounting for about 7% of GDP and 36% of export earnings.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Job seekers need home country health certificate
Asma Ali Zain
9 March 2010, 7:12 AM
Expatriates seeking employment here will soon have to bring a medical fitness certificate issued by approved centres in their home country.
This is the new health procedures being formulated by the Dubai Health Authority.
The new regulation, expected by year-end, will include a general health examination for both communicable and non-communicable diseases including diabetes.
The certificate will be issued by DHA-approved health centres abroad and apply to expatriates seeking work permit in Dubai . However, a decision is yet to be taken on whether the locally done medical fitness test will cease.
Decision is also awaited on whether the rule will apply to a specific category of workforce and nationality or for all, a senior health official said on Monday.
“This is for the benefit of both parties — the employer and employee,” Dr Ali Al Marzooqi, Director of Health and Safety of DHA, told Khaleej Times.
“We have seen cases where people have sold their entire property back home to come to Dubai and have not been able to work here because of ill health,” he said.
“It will be up to the employer to decide if he wants to hire an employee despite his medical condition,” he said. “It does not make sense having truck drivers with eyesight problems and people with hearing loss in a job where they are required to listen.”
For communicable diseases such as tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, the authority will order a local confirmatory test. Test centres will be monitored by the authority and will be penalised if found to be faking certificates.
“Not every centre will be able to issue a certificate since we understand that the authority can be misused,” said Dr Al Marzooqi. “We are putting a system in place.”
The DHA is also reviewing regulations governing communicable diseases including TB and HIV/AIDS. Plans are already on to treat and allow tuberculosis patients to stay in the country provided they follow a strict treatment regimen.
The current federal law states that people with tuberculosis be treated and sent back to their home countries. “A final decision in this regard will be taken by July,” he said.
asmaalizain@khaleejtimes
9 March 2010, 7:12 AM
Expatriates seeking employment here will soon have to bring a medical fitness certificate issued by approved centres in their home country.
This is the new health procedures being formulated by the Dubai Health Authority.
The new regulation, expected by year-end, will include a general health examination for both communicable and non-communicable diseases including diabetes.
The certificate will be issued by DHA-approved health centres abroad and apply to expatriates seeking work permit in Dubai . However, a decision is yet to be taken on whether the locally done medical fitness test will cease.
Decision is also awaited on whether the rule will apply to a specific category of workforce and nationality or for all, a senior health official said on Monday.
“This is for the benefit of both parties — the employer and employee,” Dr Ali Al Marzooqi, Director of Health and Safety of DHA, told Khaleej Times.
“We have seen cases where people have sold their entire property back home to come to Dubai and have not been able to work here because of ill health,” he said.
“It will be up to the employer to decide if he wants to hire an employee despite his medical condition,” he said. “It does not make sense having truck drivers with eyesight problems and people with hearing loss in a job where they are required to listen.”
For communicable diseases such as tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, the authority will order a local confirmatory test. Test centres will be monitored by the authority and will be penalised if found to be faking certificates.
“Not every centre will be able to issue a certificate since we understand that the authority can be misused,” said Dr Al Marzooqi. “We are putting a system in place.”
The DHA is also reviewing regulations governing communicable diseases including TB and HIV/AIDS. Plans are already on to treat and allow tuberculosis patients to stay in the country provided they follow a strict treatment regimen.
The current federal law states that people with tuberculosis be treated and sent back to their home countries. “A final decision in this regard will be taken by July,” he said.
asmaalizain@khaleejtimes
Come Protest the Illegal Detention of Migrants and Refugees in Beirut
Next Sunday (February 28th), a protest will be held in front of the General Security Retention Center in Adlieh, Beirut to demand the closing down of the center. Among others, the retention center holds refugees and migrant workers in an illegal manner in inhumane conditions.
Below is the press release by the Lebanese Center for Human Rights
CALL FOR A GENERAL MOBILIZATION
To Close Down the General Security Retention Center
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 28 at 12PM
Under the Adlieh bridge, hundreds of persons are detained underground in inhumane conditions with no natural light or ventilation.
The General Security maintains these persons illegally, including refugees, migrant domestics and workers who have already served their sentence, for indeterminate periods of time without any external control.
This practice constitutes a flagrant violation of human rights and must end immediately!
The Lebanese Center for Human Rights calls on human rights defenders and all citizens to express their indignation this Sunday February 28 at 12PM in front of the General Security Retention Center at the Adlieh round-about to demand:
• The immediate release of all persons arbitrarily detained.
• The closing down of the retention center.
• The review of the General Security’s prerogatives
Break the silence on illegal practices of the General Security!
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=328691816077&index=1
Below is the press release by the Lebanese Center for Human Rights
CALL FOR A GENERAL MOBILIZATION
To Close Down the General Security Retention Center
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 28 at 12PM
Under the Adlieh bridge, hundreds of persons are detained underground in inhumane conditions with no natural light or ventilation.
The General Security maintains these persons illegally, including refugees, migrant domestics and workers who have already served their sentence, for indeterminate periods of time without any external control.
This practice constitutes a flagrant violation of human rights and must end immediately!
The Lebanese Center for Human Rights calls on human rights defenders and all citizens to express their indignation this Sunday February 28 at 12PM in front of the General Security Retention Center at the Adlieh round-about to demand:
• The immediate release of all persons arbitrarily detained.
• The closing down of the retention center.
• The review of the General Security’s prerogatives
Break the silence on illegal practices of the General Security!
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=328691816077&index=1
Labor Market show offers Saudis ‘informed career choices’
By Saleh Al-Zahrani
JEDDAH – On behalf of Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Emir of Makkah Region, Prince Misha’l Bin Majed Bin Abdul Aziz, Governor of Jeddah, will open next Saturday the second Labor Market Exhibition which highlights efforts to find work for the local population and gives Saudis the chance to look at the estimated 100,000 job vacancies open to them.
According to JCCI deputy chairman Mazen Batterjee, the four-day event organized by Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), the Ministry of Labor and the Human Resources Development Fund, gathers the Kingdom’s leading companies in providing employment.
“It’s a unique opportunity for young Saudis to meet company owners and personal mangers face to face and discuss their concerns,” Batterjee said.
One company executive added that the occasion would give secondary schools pupils and their guardians the chance to view the needs of the Saudi labor market.
“This will help them make informed career choices,” he said. – Okaz/SG
JEDDAH – On behalf of Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Emir of Makkah Region, Prince Misha’l Bin Majed Bin Abdul Aziz, Governor of Jeddah, will open next Saturday the second Labor Market Exhibition which highlights efforts to find work for the local population and gives Saudis the chance to look at the estimated 100,000 job vacancies open to them.
According to JCCI deputy chairman Mazen Batterjee, the four-day event organized by Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), the Ministry of Labor and the Human Resources Development Fund, gathers the Kingdom’s leading companies in providing employment.
“It’s a unique opportunity for young Saudis to meet company owners and personal mangers face to face and discuss their concerns,” Batterjee said.
One company executive added that the occasion would give secondary schools pupils and their guardians the chance to view the needs of the Saudi labor market.
“This will help them make informed career choices,” he said. – Okaz/SG
Housemaid hangs herself from window
By Ibrahim Alawi
JEDDAH – Police say that a housemaid found hanging by the neck outside a bathroom window on Saturday committed suicide. The incident occurred at the apartment of the lady’s family, who, concerned at her prolonged absence, began to search their home until they found her outside the window with the cloth of a head covering around her neck. – Okaz/SG
JEDDAH – Police say that a housemaid found hanging by the neck outside a bathroom window on Saturday committed suicide. The incident occurred at the apartment of the lady’s family, who, concerned at her prolonged absence, began to search their home until they found her outside the window with the cloth of a head covering around her neck. – Okaz/SG
Monday, March 8, 2010
ACHRS opposes and actively campaigns against the death penalty in all cases and every form no matter where it is used. It considers the death penalty a violation of the right to life and the ultimate form of inhuman, cruel, and degrading punishment. In its stance against the death penalty, the organization in no way condones violent crime nor questions the responsibility of governments to ensure that those who commit such crimes are brought to justice. In carrying out this responsibility, however, governments must abide by relevant international law and standards, including the abolition of the death penalty and the prohibition of torture.
ACHRS recognizes that capital punishment has not proven to be an effective deterrent for violent crimes. The organization also emphasizes that execution is permanent and that as long as the death penalty is in practice, the risk of executing the innocent can never be eliminated.
ACHRS recognizes that capital punishment has not proven to be an effective deterrent for violent crimes. The organization also emphasizes that execution is permanent and that as long as the death penalty is in practice, the risk of executing the innocent can never be eliminated.
Participate in the Debate on the CEDAW in Jordan
Written by ACHRS
Tuesday, 05 May 2009
The CEDAW (Convention for Eliminate all forms of Discrimination Against Women) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1979 and it is often called "the international women's bill of rights."[1] Jordan signed on to the convention in 1992 and ratified it in 1997 with some "reservations" - limitations – particularly the sections which grant adult women full freedom of mobility without male consent, their choice of residence without male consent, and the right to pass their nationality on to their children.
Recently, there was a "Cabinet decision to lift its reservations on paragraph four of Article 15, which gives women freedom of mobility and choice of residence without consent of their husbands or other male family members."[2]
The Islamic Action Front, the political party of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan, has issued a statement warning that "families in Jordan face the threat of total collapse under the CEDAW" and are advocating for Jordan to reverse its position and withdraw from the convention outright instead.[3]
The IAF argues that it was wrong for the country to agree on universal standards for women's rights without holding a national dialog first.
In the spirit of free and open debate, we encourage you to participate in the survey ("Do you support Jordan's signing of the Convention on the "CEDAW", which aims to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women?) being hosted on Ad Dustor newspaper's website at http://addustour.com/.
Tuesday, 05 May 2009
The CEDAW (Convention for Eliminate all forms of Discrimination Against Women) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1979 and it is often called "the international women's bill of rights."[1] Jordan signed on to the convention in 1992 and ratified it in 1997 with some "reservations" - limitations – particularly the sections which grant adult women full freedom of mobility without male consent, their choice of residence without male consent, and the right to pass their nationality on to their children.
Recently, there was a "Cabinet decision to lift its reservations on paragraph four of Article 15, which gives women freedom of mobility and choice of residence without consent of their husbands or other male family members."[2]
The Islamic Action Front, the political party of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan, has issued a statement warning that "families in Jordan face the threat of total collapse under the CEDAW" and are advocating for Jordan to reverse its position and withdraw from the convention outright instead.[3]
The IAF argues that it was wrong for the country to agree on universal standards for women's rights without holding a national dialog first.
In the spirit of free and open debate, we encourage you to participate in the survey ("Do you support Jordan's signing of the Convention on the "CEDAW", which aims to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women?) being hosted on Ad Dustor newspaper's website at http://addustour.com/.
Authorities suspend permits of two foreign correspondents
25 February 2010
Alert
Authorities suspend permits of two foreign correspondents
(BCHR/IFEX) - The Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) expresses its great concern regarding the persistance of the authorities in their campaign to restrict journalists and correspondents of the foreign press and international news agencies. The Bahraini authorities recently suspended the activity of correspondents from certain French and German news agencies.
A news piece published by one of the daily newspapers stated that officials from the Department of Foreign Media at the Bahraini Ministry of Culture and Information held individual meetings on 29 January 2010 with a correspondent of the French news agency, Mr. Mohammed Fadhel, and a correspondent of the German news agency, Mr. Mazin Mahdi, to verbally notify them of the decision to suspend their engagement in the activities represented in providing the abovementioned news agencies with local news related to the Kingdom of Bahrain. The correspondents were not given a formal letter regarding this decision or the reasons behind it.
Government sources that refused to be named informed the BCHR that the reason behind the ban is that both journalists cited a news piece that Bahraini citizens were sentenced to five years in prison on the charge of weapon possession, joining Al-Qaeda and plotting to attack the U.S base in Bahrain.
The Department of Foreign Media of the Ministry of Culture and Information had earlier issued strict verbal instructions for all the correspondents of the foreign press and news agencies to not address any news related to Al-Qaeda or any groups allied with them in Bahrain, but it seems that those instructions did not reach these journalists. The BCHR learned later that the journalists were permitted to engage in their work after publishing the news of their suspension in one of the local newspapers.
The Department of Foreign Media follows the Ministry of Culture and Information administratively, however it overlaps and is linked with the National Security Apparatus (Intelligence) in terms of functions entrusted to it, and it is the organization that issues approvals to the correspondents of foreign press and news agencies. It is currently headed by Sheikh Abdullah bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa, the former vice-president of the National Security Apparatus, and it was previously headed by the current president of the same Apparatus, Sheikh Khalifa Abdullah Al-Khalifa, and they are both members of the ruling family.
This department exercised a lot of pressure in the last few years on correspondents of the foreign press and news agencies. They refrained from issuing permits to some of them, and attempted to impose correspondents, who are closely associated with the authorities on some foreign channels and international news agencies. It has become rather difficult for any reporter to keep his or her job without having the satisfaction of the authorities.
These restrictive approaches of the government of Bahrain contradict its position as a member in the Human Rights Council and as party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and Article 19 of the UDHR, which states, "Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice."
Based on the above, the BCHR demands that the Bahraini authorities do the following:
- Allow journalists, correspondents and reporters to engage in their activities freely without, obstructions or restrictions;
- Separate the Ministry of Information from the security apparatuses and allow the foreign press and news agencies to choose their correspondents freely without imposing anyone on them;
- Stop using permits as a way to make journalists and correspondents adjust or submit to pressure.
Alert
Authorities suspend permits of two foreign correspondents
(BCHR/IFEX) - The Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) expresses its great concern regarding the persistance of the authorities in their campaign to restrict journalists and correspondents of the foreign press and international news agencies. The Bahraini authorities recently suspended the activity of correspondents from certain French and German news agencies.
A news piece published by one of the daily newspapers stated that officials from the Department of Foreign Media at the Bahraini Ministry of Culture and Information held individual meetings on 29 January 2010 with a correspondent of the French news agency, Mr. Mohammed Fadhel, and a correspondent of the German news agency, Mr. Mazin Mahdi, to verbally notify them of the decision to suspend their engagement in the activities represented in providing the abovementioned news agencies with local news related to the Kingdom of Bahrain. The correspondents were not given a formal letter regarding this decision or the reasons behind it.
Government sources that refused to be named informed the BCHR that the reason behind the ban is that both journalists cited a news piece that Bahraini citizens were sentenced to five years in prison on the charge of weapon possession, joining Al-Qaeda and plotting to attack the U.S base in Bahrain.
The Department of Foreign Media of the Ministry of Culture and Information had earlier issued strict verbal instructions for all the correspondents of the foreign press and news agencies to not address any news related to Al-Qaeda or any groups allied with them in Bahrain, but it seems that those instructions did not reach these journalists. The BCHR learned later that the journalists were permitted to engage in their work after publishing the news of their suspension in one of the local newspapers.
The Department of Foreign Media follows the Ministry of Culture and Information administratively, however it overlaps and is linked with the National Security Apparatus (Intelligence) in terms of functions entrusted to it, and it is the organization that issues approvals to the correspondents of foreign press and news agencies. It is currently headed by Sheikh Abdullah bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa, the former vice-president of the National Security Apparatus, and it was previously headed by the current president of the same Apparatus, Sheikh Khalifa Abdullah Al-Khalifa, and they are both members of the ruling family.
This department exercised a lot of pressure in the last few years on correspondents of the foreign press and news agencies. They refrained from issuing permits to some of them, and attempted to impose correspondents, who are closely associated with the authorities on some foreign channels and international news agencies. It has become rather difficult for any reporter to keep his or her job without having the satisfaction of the authorities.
These restrictive approaches of the government of Bahrain contradict its position as a member in the Human Rights Council and as party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and Article 19 of the UDHR, which states, "Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice."
Based on the above, the BCHR demands that the Bahraini authorities do the following:
- Allow journalists, correspondents and reporters to engage in their activities freely without, obstructions or restrictions;
- Separate the Ministry of Information from the security apparatuses and allow the foreign press and news agencies to choose their correspondents freely without imposing anyone on them;
- Stop using permits as a way to make journalists and correspondents adjust or submit to pressure.
Increasing Alleges of Torture against the Detainees on Criminal Charges
February 2010
The Bahrain Center for Human Rights is following up with great concern the continuing systematic torture crimes targeted the detainees and those arrested for criminal charges or those detained for the constant protests against the deteriorating political and economic status. While the Human Rights Watch was releasing its report on the return of torture in Bahrain, the officers and officials in the Criminal Investigations Department were subjecting more victims to systematic torture.
The citizen (A.H.) filed a complaint to the BCHR, alleging that he was subjected to severe torture by the officers at the Criminal Investigations Department at Adlyia. Mr. (A.H.) spoke to the BCHR, and after four days of releasing the Human Rights Watch report, about his suffering which lasted for almost four days, where he was arrested while heading back to his residence, and as soon as he descended from his vehicle he was taken aback by several people surrounding him to arrest him for criminal charges.
Torture Scars on the Victim's Feet Due Tying his Feet
He was taken to the Criminal Investigations Bureau, and which is the place he claimed to be tortured and severely beaten in. On the next day of being arrested, he was held in custody for long hours, then he was returned to the office where his feet and hands were tied together in a sitting position, then a rod was inserted between them and then he was hung up in the "Falqa" way, and which is one of the infamous ways of torture of the security apparatuses in Bahrain, and then they beat him with a plastic hose on the sole of his feet until his feet blackened and got swollen. They then brought an arm length black device with two prominent indicators in the front, which was used to stun the victim with electricity several times, until he fell to the floor from exhaustion, however his torturers continued to beat and kick him and stun him in all parts of his body to force him to stand up again. There were clear and visible marks and bruises of torture on different parts of his body backed up with three medical reports from various sources which he had carried with him to prove the wounds and bruises he suffered from in different parts of his body[ ]. The victim claims that the torture he was subjected to was under the direct supervision of two people and they are Lieutenant Ali and Lieutenant Fahad Al-Fadhala[ ].
Copy of the Medical Report from the Police Station Clarifying the Effects of Bruising and Wounds in Different Parts of his Body
The prisoners and detainees on criminal charges are usually met with torture whose severity exceeds the magnitude of torture subjected by the regular detainees, their torturers are even creative in hurting them because of their confidence in that the members of society and civil society institutions do not usually sympathize with detainees pending on criminal cases, and also because those victims or the members of their families are usually reluctant in filing complaints against the torturers to the human rights institutions so as not to embarrass themselves due to the charges against them. In mysterious circumstances, several detainees on criminal and other charges have died in the Bahraini investigation cells in the last months and years[ ]. Each case of death had an explanation by the security authorities; however the BCHR believes hat some of those victims died as a result of severe torture or ill-treatment that was practiced against them while they were held in custody.
The BCHR fears that the systematic torture has become a reality that many detainees on criminal charges are suffering from, and the most recent of them is what was indicated recently by the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights about one of the Saudi citizens being subjected to torture in Bahrain[ ].
Nabeel Rajab, President of the BCHR, stated, "The prisoners and detainees on criminal charges or the convicted ones are human beings just like us, they are entitled to their full Human rights like other human beings, and they must be treated on this bases, and their humanity must be respected, abusing or torturing them is a crime against humanity punished by law, the perpetrators of those crimes must be pursued and presented to justice", adding, "If the human rights institutions had not addressed those victims in the previous era due to the abovementioned reasons, this situation should not last long, and the BCHR will soon instigate a monitoring process of what the criminal detainees are subjected to, and it will work on pursuing and exposing the perpetrators of torture against them and will present them to justice.
Bahrain is a State Party to three treaties that prohibit torture and cruel treatment, and they are: The Convention against Torture, The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and The Arab Charter of Human Rights. Torture is also banned by the Bahraini Constitution and the Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure which altogether prohibit the use of torture or any other act that violates human dignity, however all these charters, and covenants, constitutional and legal articles were not a deterrent for the criminals of torture as they remained a dead letter far from being applied.
The BCHR demands the government of Bahrain to:
Stop the systematic torture against all prisoners immediately.
Arrest and trial the ones responsible, and pursue the ones involved in torture crimes, on top of them those whose names were mentioned in the Human Rights Watch Report, and the rest of the reports issued by the Bahrain Center for Human Rights.
The government of Bahrain to adhere to the international commitments, treaties and recommendations which it signed, and among them the recommendations issued by the Committee against Torture of the UN.
_____________________________________________________
[ ] Attached: The medical report of the police hospital as well as one of the public health centers, and Salmanyia Medical Hospital.
[ ] Fahad Al-Fadhala is considered one of the known members in the security apparatuses and who was indicated in the report "Torture Resurrected" by the Human Rights Watch.
[ ] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeFTWVY0p3U
Al-Waqt Newspaper http://www.alwaqt.com/art.php?aid=17734
Al-Waqt Newspaper http://www.alwaqt.com/art.php?aid=181511
Al-Wasat Newspaper http://www.alwasatnews.com/2534/news/read/227845/1.html
The Bahrain Center for Human Rights is following up with great concern the continuing systematic torture crimes targeted the detainees and those arrested for criminal charges or those detained for the constant protests against the deteriorating political and economic status. While the Human Rights Watch was releasing its report on the return of torture in Bahrain, the officers and officials in the Criminal Investigations Department were subjecting more victims to systematic torture.
The citizen (A.H.) filed a complaint to the BCHR, alleging that he was subjected to severe torture by the officers at the Criminal Investigations Department at Adlyia. Mr. (A.H.) spoke to the BCHR, and after four days of releasing the Human Rights Watch report, about his suffering which lasted for almost four days, where he was arrested while heading back to his residence, and as soon as he descended from his vehicle he was taken aback by several people surrounding him to arrest him for criminal charges.
Torture Scars on the Victim's Feet Due Tying his Feet
He was taken to the Criminal Investigations Bureau, and which is the place he claimed to be tortured and severely beaten in. On the next day of being arrested, he was held in custody for long hours, then he was returned to the office where his feet and hands were tied together in a sitting position, then a rod was inserted between them and then he was hung up in the "Falqa" way, and which is one of the infamous ways of torture of the security apparatuses in Bahrain, and then they beat him with a plastic hose on the sole of his feet until his feet blackened and got swollen. They then brought an arm length black device with two prominent indicators in the front, which was used to stun the victim with electricity several times, until he fell to the floor from exhaustion, however his torturers continued to beat and kick him and stun him in all parts of his body to force him to stand up again. There were clear and visible marks and bruises of torture on different parts of his body backed up with three medical reports from various sources which he had carried with him to prove the wounds and bruises he suffered from in different parts of his body[ ]. The victim claims that the torture he was subjected to was under the direct supervision of two people and they are Lieutenant Ali and Lieutenant Fahad Al-Fadhala[ ].
Copy of the Medical Report from the Police Station Clarifying the Effects of Bruising and Wounds in Different Parts of his Body
The prisoners and detainees on criminal charges are usually met with torture whose severity exceeds the magnitude of torture subjected by the regular detainees, their torturers are even creative in hurting them because of their confidence in that the members of society and civil society institutions do not usually sympathize with detainees pending on criminal cases, and also because those victims or the members of their families are usually reluctant in filing complaints against the torturers to the human rights institutions so as not to embarrass themselves due to the charges against them. In mysterious circumstances, several detainees on criminal and other charges have died in the Bahraini investigation cells in the last months and years[ ]. Each case of death had an explanation by the security authorities; however the BCHR believes hat some of those victims died as a result of severe torture or ill-treatment that was practiced against them while they were held in custody.
The BCHR fears that the systematic torture has become a reality that many detainees on criminal charges are suffering from, and the most recent of them is what was indicated recently by the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights about one of the Saudi citizens being subjected to torture in Bahrain[ ].
Nabeel Rajab, President of the BCHR, stated, "The prisoners and detainees on criminal charges or the convicted ones are human beings just like us, they are entitled to their full Human rights like other human beings, and they must be treated on this bases, and their humanity must be respected, abusing or torturing them is a crime against humanity punished by law, the perpetrators of those crimes must be pursued and presented to justice", adding, "If the human rights institutions had not addressed those victims in the previous era due to the abovementioned reasons, this situation should not last long, and the BCHR will soon instigate a monitoring process of what the criminal detainees are subjected to, and it will work on pursuing and exposing the perpetrators of torture against them and will present them to justice.
Bahrain is a State Party to three treaties that prohibit torture and cruel treatment, and they are: The Convention against Torture, The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and The Arab Charter of Human Rights. Torture is also banned by the Bahraini Constitution and the Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure which altogether prohibit the use of torture or any other act that violates human dignity, however all these charters, and covenants, constitutional and legal articles were not a deterrent for the criminals of torture as they remained a dead letter far from being applied.
The BCHR demands the government of Bahrain to:
Stop the systematic torture against all prisoners immediately.
Arrest and trial the ones responsible, and pursue the ones involved in torture crimes, on top of them those whose names were mentioned in the Human Rights Watch Report, and the rest of the reports issued by the Bahrain Center for Human Rights.
The government of Bahrain to adhere to the international commitments, treaties and recommendations which it signed, and among them the recommendations issued by the Committee against Torture of the UN.
_____________________________________________________
[ ] Attached: The medical report of the police hospital as well as one of the public health centers, and Salmanyia Medical Hospital.
[ ] Fahad Al-Fadhala is considered one of the known members in the security apparatuses and who was indicated in the report "Torture Resurrected" by the Human Rights Watch.
[ ] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeFTWVY0p3U
Al-Waqt Newspaper http://www.alwaqt.com/art.php?aid=17734
Al-Waqt Newspaper http://www.alwaqt.com/art.php?aid=181511
Al-Wasat Newspaper http://www.alwasatnews.com/2534/news/read/227845/1.html
The suffering of migrant workers must be addressed before they reach the point of suicide
The shocking cases of suicides committed by migrant workers in Bahrain reported since the beginning of 2010 are the continuation of a trend that should have been addressed years ago. The BCHR and CARAM[1] Asia condemns the failure of authorities and Bahraini civil society to improve the working and living conditions of migrant workers, which in previous cases has been shown to lead to acts of desperation such as suicide.
"The Universal Declaration of Human Rights starts by stating that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights," BCHR and CARAM ASIA Chairperson Nabeel Rajab said “Article 3 states that everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person. If Bahrain is really serious about its commitment to Human Rights, and would like to maintain its position as a progressive model for neighboring nations, it must start to honour these very fundamental human rights.
"We have been talking about the shocking rates of suicide for too long already, it is time to take some sincere steps to understand the causes, and to make attempts to affect change."
In January 2010 alone, Bahrain has witnessed two cases of suicide and two cases of attempted suicide by migrant workers. According to the Gulf Daily News[2], 36 out of 131 cases of deaths by suicide in Bahrain in 2008 were Bahraini. The majority of suicides are said to have been committed by poor migrant workers. It was also reported that more than 30% of cases of suicide attempts handled by the government's psychiatric hospitals in 2008 were foreign domestic workers which believed to be mostly Asian. In 2007, out of 120 cases of death by suicide, 27 were Bahrainis. The BCHR previously reported that between January and April 2007 alone five migrant workers in Bahrain committed suicide.
"We should not really be shocked any more by these incidents since we have been seeing them occur for years now, without any attempt to improve the conditions that lead these workers to try and end their lives," Mr Rajab added. "What would drive a 22-year man to try and end his life?”We also know now, thanks to reports by rights groups, activists, social workers and the media, about the conditions in which migrant workers live in Bahrain. Without freedom of movement, in terrible working conditions, in inhumane living conditions. Violations include passports being withheld, salaries not being paid, abuse from employers, little support from the Bahraini government and the sending countries.
"We have been seeing the suicide attempts for years now, and we know well the degrading situation migrant workers are living in. Instead of being shocked we should be taking action to change this situation."
The BCHR and CARAM Asia calls on the Bahraini government to honour its commitment to human rights and the protection of foreign workers in its country. The authorities must use the legal means at their disposal to enforce better standards of work conditions, living conditions and treatment of workers.
The BCHR and CARAM Asia calls on sending countries to stop prioritizing remittances over the health, happiness, rights and safety of their nationals. The BCHR and CARAM Asia recognize that embassies and local representatives of sending countries have taken steps to improve their services to low-wage earning nationals in the last few years. We encourage this practice, but insist that sending countries and their representative’s embassies must take a greater role in being a source of support and information to their citizens working abroad.
The BCHR and CARAM Asia calls on social workers, activists, business people and Bahraini society to work together to create better standards of living and treatment of migrant workers in Bahrain.
"This calls for a change in mentality and practice," said Mr Rajab. "If we are serious about protecting the right to a life of dignity and security then we must work to provide a person in a desperate situation with a better option than ending their life."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] CARAM Asia is a Malaysian based regional NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. It is an open network of NGOs and CBOs. The CARAM Asia network is involved in action research, advocacy, coalition building and capacity building with the aim of creating an enabling environment to empower migrants and their communities to reduce all vulnerabilities including HIV and enhance their health rights globally.
[2] http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=26
"The Universal Declaration of Human Rights starts by stating that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights," BCHR and CARAM ASIA Chairperson Nabeel Rajab said “Article 3 states that everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person. If Bahrain is really serious about its commitment to Human Rights, and would like to maintain its position as a progressive model for neighboring nations, it must start to honour these very fundamental human rights.
"We have been talking about the shocking rates of suicide for too long already, it is time to take some sincere steps to understand the causes, and to make attempts to affect change."
In January 2010 alone, Bahrain has witnessed two cases of suicide and two cases of attempted suicide by migrant workers. According to the Gulf Daily News[2], 36 out of 131 cases of deaths by suicide in Bahrain in 2008 were Bahraini. The majority of suicides are said to have been committed by poor migrant workers. It was also reported that more than 30% of cases of suicide attempts handled by the government's psychiatric hospitals in 2008 were foreign domestic workers which believed to be mostly Asian. In 2007, out of 120 cases of death by suicide, 27 were Bahrainis. The BCHR previously reported that between January and April 2007 alone five migrant workers in Bahrain committed suicide.
"We should not really be shocked any more by these incidents since we have been seeing them occur for years now, without any attempt to improve the conditions that lead these workers to try and end their lives," Mr Rajab added. "What would drive a 22-year man to try and end his life?”We also know now, thanks to reports by rights groups, activists, social workers and the media, about the conditions in which migrant workers live in Bahrain. Without freedom of movement, in terrible working conditions, in inhumane living conditions. Violations include passports being withheld, salaries not being paid, abuse from employers, little support from the Bahraini government and the sending countries.
"We have been seeing the suicide attempts for years now, and we know well the degrading situation migrant workers are living in. Instead of being shocked we should be taking action to change this situation."
The BCHR and CARAM Asia calls on the Bahraini government to honour its commitment to human rights and the protection of foreign workers in its country. The authorities must use the legal means at their disposal to enforce better standards of work conditions, living conditions and treatment of workers.
The BCHR and CARAM Asia calls on sending countries to stop prioritizing remittances over the health, happiness, rights and safety of their nationals. The BCHR and CARAM Asia recognize that embassies and local representatives of sending countries have taken steps to improve their services to low-wage earning nationals in the last few years. We encourage this practice, but insist that sending countries and their representative’s embassies must take a greater role in being a source of support and information to their citizens working abroad.
The BCHR and CARAM Asia calls on social workers, activists, business people and Bahraini society to work together to create better standards of living and treatment of migrant workers in Bahrain.
"This calls for a change in mentality and practice," said Mr Rajab. "If we are serious about protecting the right to a life of dignity and security then we must work to provide a person in a desperate situation with a better option than ending their life."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] CARAM Asia is a Malaysian based regional NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. It is an open network of NGOs and CBOs. The CARAM Asia network is involved in action research, advocacy, coalition building and capacity building with the aim of creating an enabling environment to empower migrants and their communities to reduce all vulnerabilities including HIV and enhance their health rights globally.
[2] http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=26
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