WUNRN
Please see 2 parts of this WUNRN
Release on Domestic Workers in Lebanon.
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Human Rights Watch - Report
LEBANON: MIGRANT DOMESTIC WORKERS
DYING EVERY WEEK
Most Deaths Allegedly from Suicides or
in Botched Escapes
(Beirut, August 26, 2008) – The high death toll of migrant domestic workers in Lebanon, from unnatural causes, shows the urgent need to improve their working conditions, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch called on the official steering committee tasked with improving the situation of migrant domestic workers in Lebanon to investigate the root causes of these deaths and develop a concrete national strategy to reduce them.
Since
January 2007, at least 95 migrant domestic workers have died in Lebanon. Of
these 95 deaths, 40 are classified by the embassies of the migrants as suicide,
while 24 others were caused by workers falling from high buildings, often while
trying to escape their employers. By contrast, only 14 domestic workers died
because of diseases or health issues. (For basic details of cases compiled by
Human Rights Watch, please visit: http://www.hrw.org/pub/2008/women/Lebanon.MDW.Annex.082608.pdf.)
“Domestic workers are dying in Lebanon at a rate of more than one per week,”
said Nadim Houry, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch. “All those involved
– from the Lebanese authorities, to the workers’ embassies, to the employment agencies,
to the employers – need to ask themselves what is driving these women to kill
themselves or risk their lives trying to escape from high buildings.”
Interviews with embassy officials and friends of domestic workers who committed
suicide suggest that forced confinement, excessive work demands, employer
abuse, and financial pressures are key factors pushing these women to kill
themselves or risk their lives. An official at the Philippines embassy told
Human Rights Watch about one Filipina worker whose employers accused her of
stealing a piece of jewelry. The employers beat her and locked her inside the
house, he said. She ended up committing suicide.
Other suicide cases point to financial pressures faced by these workers who are
not entitled to the minimum wage in Lebanon. Sarada Phuyal, a Nepalese
national, hung herself on March 17, 2008. Human Rights Watch interviewed
another Nepalese who worked in the same household: “Sarada was depressed
because she had a lot of pressure from her husband to send money. Her husband
was very sick. The money she was sending was all spent on medical costs. She
was very upset about this because she wanted the money for her children to go
to school.”
“These suicides are linked to the isolation and the difficult working
conditions these workers face in Lebanon,” Houry said. “While the Lebanese
authorities cannot guarantee these women happiness, they should guarantee them
the right to move freely, to work in decent conditions, to communicate with
their friends and families, and to earn a living wage.”
A 2006 survey of 600 domestic workers in Lebanon conducted by Dr. Ray
Jureidini, of the American University in Cairo, found 31 percent of the women
saying that their employers did not allow them to leave the home.
Many domestic workers who find themselves locked up attempt to escape through
balconies or windows. Since January 2007, Human Rights Watch has compiled 24
cases of domestic workers who died as a result of falling from a high-story
building. In eight additional cases, the worker injured herself but survived
the fall.
“Many domestic workers are literally being driven to jump from balconies to
escape their forced confinement,” Houry said.
While police reports usually classify cases where domestic workers fall from
balconies as suicide, this classification is highly suspect. Human Rights Watch
interviewed two domestic workers who had fallen from balconies but survived the
fall. In both cases, they stated that they were trying to flee employers who either
had mistreated them or locked them in. Kamala Nagari, a Nepalese national who
injured herself on February 20, 2008 while trying to escape, told Human Rights
Watch from her hospital bed:
“I was locked in for two days, and they [the employers] did not give me food
and water. Then after two days, I wanted to run away. The apartment was on the
fifth floor. I tried to go down using cable wires running along the wall of
building. The cable broke, and I do not remember what happened afterwards.”
Officials working at the migrants’ embassies echoed this finding: “Most deaths
resulting from a building fall are failed attempts to escape,” a labor attaché
told Human Rights Watch. A former ambassador put it more bluntly: “Don’t call
this an embassy. We have become a funeral parlor. People die. Natural deaths,
accidents, suicide. When they try to run away, accidents happen.”
Lebanese police generally investigate death cases but interviews with lawyers
representing domestic workers and officials working at the migrants’ embassies
as well as a review of investigators’ notes in three separate police
investigations reveal many flaws. First, the police do not always investigate
whether the employer mistreated the employee, and when they do, they limit
themselves to general questions and accept the employer’s testimony without
cross-checking their statements with information from neighbors or the family
of the domestic worker. Second, in cases where the domestic worker survives a
fall, police often interview her without the presence of a translator and
generally ignore the motives that led her to escape.
“When employers lock someone up inside a home, they are committing a crime and
the police should treat it as such,” Houry said.
Human Rights Watch urged the official steering committee tasked with improving
the status of domestic workers, which includes members of various relevant
ministries, the police force and certain international organizations and NGOs,
to begin tracking cases of such deaths and injuries, to ensure that the police
properly investigate them, and to develop a concrete strategy to reduce the
deaths of domestic workers. This strategy should include combating the practice
of forced confinement and improving working conditions and labor law protections.
Human Rights Watch also urged governments of migrants’ countries to increase
the services at their embassies and diplomatic missions in Lebanon by providing
counseling and shelter for workers in distress.
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----- Original Message -----
From: WUNRN
To: WUNRN ListServe
Sent: Wednesday, April 30, 2008 4:47 PM
Subject: Lebanon - Campaign to Protect Domestic Workers from Abuse,
Exploitation - Gender
WUNRN
(Beirut, April 30, 2008) – Lebanese employers, placement agencies, and the Lebanese authorities should improve the treatment of domestic workers by ensuring fair contracts, timely payment of wages, and a weekly day’s leave, Human Rights Watch said today, on the eve of Labor Day. Human Rights Watch is launching a campaign to highlight the often invisible abuses that many women who are domestic workers suffer in Lebanon.
An
estimated 200,000 domestic workers, primarily from Sri Lanka, the Philippines,
and Ethiopia, play an essential role in a large number of Lebanese households,
yet remain unprotected by labor laws and are subject to exploitation and
frequent abuse by employers and agencies.
“This Labor Day reminds us of the important contributions these women make to
this country,” said Nadim Houry, researcher at Human Rights Watch. “They not
only pick up the slack in many households in Lebanon, but also help support
their own families left behind. While some employers treat domestic workers
with respect, many fail to provide minimum standards of decent working
conditions, such as adequate food, living accommodations, and regular payment.”
The most common complaints made by domestic workers to embassies and
nongovernmental organizations include non-payment or delayed payment of their
wages, forced confinement to the workplace, no time off, and verbal, as well as
physical, abuse. According to a 2006 survey conducted by Dr. Ray Jureidini of
600 migrant domestic workers, 56 percent said they work more than 12 hours a
day and 34 percent have no regular time off. In some cases, workers have died
while attempting to escape these conditions, some by jumping from balconies.
“We often hear employers say they cannot give a domestic worker a day off
because she will come back pregnant or will want to get paid more after talking
to other workers,” said Houry. “These employers may think they are protecting
themselves or their workers, but what they are doing constitutes serious
violations of basic human rights. The better approach is to build mutual
trust.”
Testimonies collected by
Human Rights Watch show that some Lebanese recruitment agencies illegally
withhold the first few months of domestic workers’ salaries to recoup
recruitment costs. The workers also complain that they are often physically and
verbally abused by the agencies if they have disputes with their employers.
The Lebanese authorities have failed to curb abuses committed by employers and
agencies. Lebanese labor laws specifically exclude domestic workers from rights
guaranteed to other workers, such as a weekly day of rest, limits on work
hours, paid holidays, and workers’ compensation. Immigration sponsorship laws
restrict domestic workers’ ability to change employers, even in cases of abuse.
An official steering committee created in early 2006 and led by the Ministry of
Labor to improve the legal situation of migrant workers in Lebanon has yet to
deliver any concrete reforms. This includes a long-discussed standard contract
to outline minimum standards for domestic workers’ employment.
Human Rights Watch called upon the Ministry of Labor and other relevant
authorities to amend the labor law to extend equal protection for domestic
workers and to sign and ratify the International Convention on the Protection
of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families.
“In the absence of effective state regulations, migrants remain at the whims of
their employers and employment agencies. The Lebanese government must take
immediate action to change that,” said Houry. “But employers and agencies
shouldn’t need to be compelled by law to treat migrant domestic workers with
decency and respect.”
Human Rights Watch plans to raise awareness among Lebanese employers by
distributing leaflets and posters that tackle commonly held “myths” about
migrant domestic workers. During the month of May, Lebanese can pick up Human
Rights Watch’s leaflets in supermarkets and malls all over Lebanon.
“Many Lebanese themselves have been forced by wars and hardships to emigrate
looking for a better life,” said Houry. “We hope that they will see the
parallels with the experience of these migrants that came from far away to care
for Lebanese families. That’s why we decided to call the campaign, ‘Put
yourself in her shoes.’”
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