prove
that she had a visa and permission to work as a domestic worker in the Dubai,
thereby making her vulnerable to deportation.
Tasneem
was told that she would receive USD100 per week. In reality her employers only
agreed to pay her USD 75 per month which they claimed they were sending to an
account in Bangladesh. However, Tasneem is not yet sure if any money has been
paid into that account and the social workers say that, based on their previous
experience of similar situations, it is extremely unlikely that any payments
have been made. Government regulations concerning the employment of foreigners
often makes the situation worse by only allowing domestic workers into the
country to accompany their employer. The fact that the migrant does not have a
work permit in their own right makes it impossible for them to change
employers. Employers can also with-hold wages until they have accumulated
several months of backpay, thereby making it much more difficult for the worker
to leave. This, combined with their isolation and precarious legal status,
leaves migrant workers extremely vulnerable and many are subjected to a range
of human rights violations, including physical and sexual abuse as well as
forced labour.
Which
labour rights issues does Tasneem face, while working abroad? Please use your
earlier notes and discuss this case in detail.
Group
1: Employment contract, forced labour, abuse and discrimination
Group 2: Working hours, leave, payment and wages
Case Study 2: Please read and discuss the following
case study
Hasim,
a 35 year old mason, has been a migrant worker for the last 10 years and has
worked in 3 different countries. At the beginning, he did not know how to
migration and went through a local labour contractor. He just heard that in the
Gulf countries, one can just earn so much more income and regularly send money
back home. The contractor charged 3 lakh Taka but organised tickets, visa and
working permits for him. When he arrived, he had to give his passport to the
employer. They prefer it that way. He does not really understand what is
written in the contract, since it is in Arabic. Because of this, he could not
change his job even though he would get much better pay and better working
conditions. He works for more than 12 hrs a day and does only get a short break
for namaz on Friday afternoon. No leave is provided. He does not get paid for
his overtime even though he knows that as per the law, he should get paid and
get leave. To save money, he shares a house with his friends. He is paid per
hour but not for over time. He earns 400 USD per month but has to pay back his
loan to the labour contractor who also charged him 10 % interest. It took him 2
years to pay back the loan. He wants to send back at least 200 USD per month
but manages to only send 100 USD every second month. One day, he got into a
fight with the employer because
he
wanted to cut his income, since he did not come to work. He was very sick at
that time. The employer threatened him that he would deport him and so Hasim
had to give in and accept the wage cut. Hasim often asks whether it is worth
doing this work but dreams of the moment when he can go back, live in his own
house and have his own business.
Which
labour rights issues does Hasim face, while working abroad? Please use your
earlier notes and discuss this case in detail.
Group
1: Employment contract, forced labour, abuse and discrimination
Group 2: Working hours, leave, payment
and wages
|
CASE 1: Tasneem
|
CASE 2: Hasim
|
|
Employment contract: no own work permit
Forced labour, abuse and
harassment:
-
no
freedom to move, could not keep passport
-
cannot
leave house, cannot make phone call
-
threatened
Abuse: shouting and
beating
|
Employment contract: no own work permit
Forced labour, abuse and
harassment:
-
no
freedom to move, could not keep passport
-
cannot
change job
-
threatened
Abuse:
shouting and beating
|
|
Working hours: 15 hrs a day
Leave: no leave
Payment and wages: Paid at all?
-
75 USD instead of 100 USD, no
overtime pay
-
Withholding of money
|
Working hours: 12 hrs a day
Leave: no leave, wage cut when
sick
Payment and wages:
-
400 USD
- no overtime pay
|
