Sunday, June 26, 2011

"Indra Malkanthi had been forced to swallow nine nails by her employer in Lebanon"

Action against those exploiting Lankan workers

by Omar RAJARATHNAM, 19 June 2011

Minister of Foreign Employment and Welfare Dilan Perera dismissed reports from certain media organisations that Sri Lankan women employed in a Jordanian factory were being repeatedly raped. The Minister made the statement at a press briefing held in Colombo.

“I immediately assigned a delegation to visit this factory in Jordan as soon as I became aware of this news. They launched an investigation. Based on the report submitted by the delegation, I can confirm that the factory employs 5,000 workers of which 1,850 are Sri Lankans and no one acknowledged the alleged incidents”, he said. However, recounting a different incident, the Minister acknowledged that Sri Lankan domestic worker Indra Malkanthi had been forced to swallow nine nails by her employer in Lebanon.

She is now in a stable condition in hospital after undergoing surgery to remove the nails from her stomach. “Two officials from our embassy in Lebanon have been deployed to attend to her needs and she will be flown to Sri Lanka as soon as her doctors declare her fit to travel. The local agent in charge of her employment has been ordered to cease operations temporarily”, he said.

Minister Perera also disclosed that he plans to increase the age floor of Sri Lankans going overseas for domestic employment from 21 to 30 years over the next three years to ensure their safety and security. He pledged to take action against anyone who exploits Sri Lankan workers abroad.

On suicides in Lebanon

(...)

He identifies a small minority as “genuinely ill psychiatric patients,” and defines others as “suicide gestures” or “serious attempts.”
“What we see is a lot of suicide-like behavior … they take a few pills and then come in for drama and attention,” he says, mentioning the case of a teenager who was admitted a few days earlier after an overdose.
“She had just broken up with her boyfriend and didn’t really want to kill herself,” he says. “I had to tell her about the other 3 billion other men on the planet that can break her heart in the future.”
He contrasts this with cases of foreign domestic workers, mainly young Philippine and Sri Lankan young women, who try to kill themselves by jumping off buildings or ingesting toxic products and are, as he defines them, “deadly serious.”
“I remember a Philippine national who had drunk a very toxic product … the surgeon’s gloves melted on the inside,” he says.

(...)

Quote from: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2011/Jun-22/Suicide-Too-scandalous-to-be-reported.ashx#ixzz1QPvV3Cis

Welcome to Lebanon, Migrant Workers! [Alternative tourism videos]

The Migrant Workers Task Force responds to the Lebanese ministry of tourism's sexist tourism advertisement campaign with the following 3 videos. More info here: http://mwtaskforce.wordpress.com/2011/06/25/welcome-to-lebanon-migrant-workers/





قناة الجزيرة من بيروت: العمالة المنزلية في لبنان والمشكلات التي تواجهها

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Will Arab states ratify historic international labour standards on domestic work?


International Labour Organization
Regional Office for Arab States
Friday June 17, 2011
For immediate release

Will Arab states ratify historic international labour standards on domestic work?
Arab governments, workers and employers have largely supported the adoption of the Convention and Recommendation on Decent Work for Domestic Workers, and must now consider ratification

Geneva (ILO News) - Most Arab delegates to the International Labour Conference supported the adoption of historic international labour standards on decent work for domestic workers on Thursday (June 16), with only a handful of abstentions. But some highlighted the challenges to ratification and

هل ستصدق البلدان العربية على معايير العمل الدولية التاريخية بشأن العمل المنزلي؟


منظمة العمل الدولية، المكتب الإقليمي للدول العربية
الجمعة، 17 حزيران/يونيو 2011
للنشر الفوري

هل ستصدق البلدان العربية على معايير العمل الدولية التاريخية بشأن العمل المنزلي؟
لقد أيد كل من الحكومات العربية والعمال وأصحاب العمل العرب بشكل كبير اعتماد الاتفاقية والتوصية بشأن العمل اللائق للعمال المنزليين، وقد حان الوقت الآن للنظر في تصديقهما

جنيف (أخبار م ع د) – لقد أيد معظم المندوبين العرب في مؤتمر العمل الدولي اعتماد معياري العمل الدوليين التاريخيين بشأن العمل اللائق للعمال المنزليين، وذلك يوم الخميس (16 حزيران/يونيو)، ولم تُسجل سوى بضعة حالات امتناع عن التصويت. ولكن بعضهم قد أبرز التحديات الماثلة أمام  التصديق والتنفيذ في البلدان العربية.

ويتواجد في المنطقة عدداً كبيراً من العمال المهاجرين يبلغ عددهم نحو 22 مليون عامل، ثلثهم من النساء اللواتي يضطلعن بالعمل المنزلي، وهن ينحدرن من بلدان

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights: Domestic Workers in Lebanon

ITUC CSI's Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights is just out. Here's the excerpt on migrant workers.


Migrant workers abused and excluded Lebanon has an estimated 200,000 domestic workers, primarily from Sri Lanka, Ethiopia and the Philippines. The Philippines, Ethiopia and Madagascar now ban their citizens from travelling to Lebanon due to extensive abuses. It is estimated that one domestic worker

العمال المنزليون: اتفاقية دولية جديدة تحرج لبنان

يتوقع أن تبصر النور في جنيف، غداً، الاتفاقية الدولية بشأن «العمل اللائق للعمال المنزليين». تعمّق هذه الاتفاقية الجديدة الهوة بين مشروع قانون «تنظيم العمل اللائق للعاملين في الخدمة المنزلية» الذي تقدم به الوزير بطرس حرب في شباط الماضي، وبين التزامات لبنان بمعايير حقوق الإنسان
بسام القنطار، جريدة الأخبار، 15 حزيران 2011

هيثم الموسوي- جريدة الأخبار
تستمر في جنيف اجتماعات الدورة الـ100 لمؤتمر العمل الدولي. ويشارك لبنان في المؤتمر الذي يختتم أعماله في السابع عشر من هذا الشهر، بوفد يمثل أطراف العمل الثلاثة (الحكومة وأصحاب العمل والعمال). البند الاهم على جدول أعمال المؤتمر إقرار اتفاقية جديدة بعنوان «العمل اللائق للعمال المنزليين» تكملها توصية تتعلق بتنظيم عمل هذه الفئة من العمال، التي تعيش في العديد من البلدان في ظروف استغلال وتمييز. وتخوض المنظمات غير الحكومية الدولية حملة من لإقرار هذه الاتفاقية التي تواجه تحفظات حكومية كبيرة، ابرزها من دول مجلس التعاون الخليجي التي تستضيف ٢,١ مليون من العمالة المنزلية.

ويقدر حجم العمالة وفق الإحصاءات الرسمية بـ٥٢,٦ مليون عامل، فيما تشير التقديرات غير الرسمية الى ان العدد يتجاوز المئة مليون. اما في لبنان فيقدر العدد بين ١٣٠ و٢٠٠ ألف عامل

Friday, June 10, 2011

Draft law submitted in bid to improve conditions for domestic workers

The Daily Star - Beirut - 9 June 2011
A new law for the protection of domestic workers in Lebanon has been drafted and transmitted to the legislative authority and is currently awaiting the approval and implementation of the Parliament, said Abdullah Razouk, acting director general of the Labor Ministry.
“Lebanon has made significant improvements in the field of securing a decent work for domestic workers, including the country’s adoption of a

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Elementary School Students in Lebanon Tackle Abuse of Domestic Workers

Alternative tourism video in the works, to counter Ministry of Tourism's videos

By Patrick Galey, The Daily Star

BEIRUT: Five o’clock starts are nothing new for Priya Subedi. As one of thousands of migrant workers living in Lebanon, she has spent the last four years getting used to waking with the call to prayer to prepare her daily chores. But last week saw Subedi take on an altogether different role. For one day, with a customarily early start, Subedi was an actress.

On the new draft law for regulating domestic workers in Lebanon

 المحامية مهنا إسحق تعلّق على مسودة قانون عاملات المنزل التي أقرّت مؤخرا. مدة المداخلة: ساعة وعشر دقائق.
In Arabic. Lawyer Mohana Isaac who works with Kafa Association explains the main features and critiques of the proposed law for regulating domestic workers in Lebanon and affording decent work conditions. The talk was on Thursday June 2nd, hosted by Nasawiya (the Feminist Collective). Runtime: 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

تحرّش جنسي بعاملة بنغلادشية

A Bengali domestic worker filed a complaint at the Doueir police station for sexual aggression by 3 persons who had their heads covered. Al-Akhbar newspaper, 1 June 2011.
جريدة الأخبار، 1 حزيران 2011 - ادعت العاملة البنغلادشية جميلة (اسم مستعار) أمام مخفر الدوير أن ثلاثة أشخاص ملثمين اعتدوا عليها جنسياً بعد تكبيلها بجذع شجرة في حديقة خلف المنزل الذي تعمل فيه. وتبين للطبيب الشرعي بعد معاينتها أنها «تعرضت لاعتداء من دون استخدام العنف الجسدي في محيط الأعضاء التناسلية». وصرّح صاحب المنزل أمام الدرك بأنه حضر الى المنزل وعمل على فك العاملة عن الشجرة، ونقلها الى مستشفى النبطية للمعالجة.