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MUSCAT — Oman should
consider the possibility of creating shelters that could accommodate
safely victims of abuse and exploitation, including domestic workers,
following the examples of other members of the Arab Gulf Cooperation
Council (AGCC), a top UN official told the media yesterday.
Sigma
Huda, special rapporteur of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights
on trafficking in persons, made the above statement at a press conference
held at the Safeer Continental Hotel in Al Khuwair, at the end of her
official visit to the Sultanate. The government of Oman had invited her to
Oman and this is the first-ever visit by a special rapporteur to Oman.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Social
Development and the Unicef Oman has been hosting the UN High Commissioner
for Human Rights delegation from Geneva headed by Huda, who is a lawyer
and human rights defender in Bangladesh.
She has been serving as
the special rapporteur on trafficking in persons since October 2004. In
this capacity, she has visited Bosnia and Herzegovina in February 2005 and
Lebanon in 2006. She is currently travelling in the three Gulf States of
Bahrain, Oman and Qatar.
Huda has already presented the findings
to the Oman government. She shared with the media the preliminary findings
and summary on the mandate. “With regard to the protection of the foreign
migrant workers, including trafficked persons, I would also like to call
upon the authorities of sending countries, including embassies and
consulates, to build on the good practices in terms of comprehensive
protection programmes, which are already in place for some groups such as,
for example the Filipino migrant workers,” Huda noted.
“In this
regard, it was also reported that there are no uniform standards of
minimum wages and certain embassies and consular offices have taken on
themselves to establish such standards.”
Cooperation and
coordination among embassies and consulates of the countries of origin
could be further strengthened in order to ensure that there are no gaps in
the protection of victims of abuse and exploitation, Huda said.
“I
am also concerned about the reports that I received during this mission of
women from central and eastern Asia, former CIS and Arab countries who,
after entering the country through legal channels, end up in ‘illegal
activities’.”
Huda said that some of these women may be deceived
prior to their departure for Oman about the type or conditions of the
activity they eventually have to engage in but circumstances may not allow
them to seek protection.
“In my public report, I will offer the
government some recommendations which will be aimed at eliminating
trafficking in persons and enhancing the protection of the human rights of
the victims. I hope that national authorities, the international community
as well as civil society can continue to work together towards this end.”
She thanked the government of Oman for the cooperation it has
extended to her. She also welcomed the fact that the legislative framework
provides for detailed and comprehensive labour standards for all workers,
including foreign domestic workers, which will hopefully be widely
disseminated to the public through media and other forms.
“Yet
much remains to be done for the government to implement Oman’s
international obligations related to human trafficking. In the course of
my mission, I have found that a number of human beings, including women,
travel to Oman in order to make a living for themselves and earn money to
send to the families and loved ones they leave thousands of kilometres
behind.” Some of these migrant workers are often lured in their country of
origin by unscrupulous recruiting agents with false promises of a certain
job or certain working conditions. More often than not they are shocked to
find themselves in exploitative situations upon arrival, Huda said. “I
received reports that casual labourers are one of the most disadvantaged
groups as their supposed relations with sponsors are fictitious, thus
increasing their vulnerability to abuse.”
“Many families — a
majority I would hope — respect the dignity and human rights of their
domestic workers. Some even come to treat their domestic migrant workers
like members of their own families. However, other domestic workers are
less fortunate and are subject to degrading conditions. Long working
hours, lack of sleep and rest, and the withholding or delay in the payment
of wages are not uncommon complaints.
Some employers also confine
domestic migrant workers in the house, confiscating their passports and
depriving them of access to basic means of communication such as the
telephone or mail. I was also told of instances of physical, mental and
verbal abuse.
“I would like to clarify that a person can be
trafficked across an international border even if he or she holds a valid
visa. There can also be human trafficking within one and the same country.
My mandate as special rapporteur aims to protect the human rights of
trafficked persons, while preventing other human beings from falling
victims to this crime. The issue of demand for all forms of exploitation
and the push and pull-factors relating to exploitation are also concerns
covered by my mandate,” she added.
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