Inter-regional conference to discuss the situation of migrant workers in Asia and Arab regions.
Bahrain center for human Rights
Introductions:

Before we begin to look at the specifics of female domestic workers living under the Kafala system in GCC states and the region, I would like to outline certain characteristics which existed in a kind of "work" or system which existed in the past.

In this work, people were treated as an considered the property of their employers or owners. In this work, people we powerless, they were alienated from the people they worked with and the people they worked for. In this work, they only had freedom of mobility according
to the will or commands of their employers.

Now here I have been describing the characteristics of the slavery system, which was officially abolished 200 years ago. Unfortunately, many of these characteristics and conditions can be found in the situation in which female domestic workers live in under the Kafala system. This is what I hope to highlight in my presentation.

1 - What is the 'kafala' sponsorship system?

Basically, the sponsorship system means that expatriate workers can only enter, work, and leave certain countries with the assistance or explicit permission of their sponsor or employer, who is a local in the country. This is basis upon which visas are issued.

What is this system for female migrant domestic workers, who as we learned yesterday make up a significant and a significantly vulnerable percentage of migrant workers in this region.

According to the ILO, domestic work is the "single most important category of employment among women migrants to the Gulf as well as to Lebanon and Jordan".

The Kafala system was drawn from a concept of "guardianship" by which domestic workers are given a place in their employers abode, and under this system labour laws in GCC countries as well as Lebanon and Jordan do not cover domestic workers - although we heard about some
provisions in Lebanon and Kuwait yesterday which perhaps are not being implemented.

Because of the domain in which they work - households – domestic workers also do not fall under any other national laws, and are essentially not legally classified as workers. Because their work is basically legally unrecognised and they are unrecognised as workers, they are explicitly unable to exercise the rights and freedoms afforded to workers.

Also because of their 'unrecognised' status, and even their unrecognised work, it is difficult to scrutinise and regulate their working and living conditions.

2 - Where and how are the human rights violations produced??

i) In the process of employment There are extreme irregularities in the use of the recruitment system. Many women are exploited or trafficked on false premises by recruiting agents, either in their home country or the country which receives them. Many of them, even before they start working they become hugely indebted to recruiters.

ii) In the contract of employment The conditions are set according to the employer's discretion and in many (possibly the majority) of cases, often there is not contract at all. If we take Bahrain as an example, the Ministry of Labour has created a model contract - but how much it is used, and how useful it is, it is not clear. In addition, employers are required to pay for the flight costs of their employees - but from cases we have received and seen, in many many cases employers do not do this.

iii) In work
Unspecified and often multiple forms of work: women are often babysitters, kitchen helpers, cleaners, they work inside the family home and in their relatives homes too.

As an example, in Bahrain the number of women who escape exhaustive conditions and end up in NGO or embassy shelters increases massively because they wake up to help their employer make suhoor (pre dawn meal) then the day begins with the children going to school in the morning, in the afternoon they prepare the futoor with their employer, and they stay up at night till the family goes to sleep – this includes all other duties of caring for the house and children – and the next day it begins again.

They work for undefined hours, they are not able to practice their own religion freely, they are not given days off, there are cases of non-payment of salaries.
They have controlled and limited freedom of movement - they are not free to move outside the sponsor's home and they are not free to receive visitors or have partners. Their passports are withheld. They have problems with living conditions, being fed, medical provisions - and these are the day to day sufferings that we do not hear about.

And then comes the psychological, verbal, physical and sexual abuse which we have received cases of in Bahrain and seen minimal coverage of in the regional media. And in these cases the abusers have been the employers or sponsors but also their children or relatives.

iv) Access
Compounding these problems, female migrant domestic workers have extremely tenuous or no access at all to care, support services and legal redress.

According to a 2005 ILO study, I looked at the situation for female migrant domestic workers in Bahrain, Kuwait and the UAE:
In Bahrain the average number of hours worked per week was 108, in Kuwait 101, in the UAE 105. These women had an average of 1 day off per month. They all spoke of control on their freedom of movement.
Every single one interviewed reported that their passport was held by their employer. None of them were given renumeration for working overtime. In each country, more than 40% of the women interviewed reported physical, verbal or sexual abuse.

3 - Impact

The result of these violations creates what are described as "illegal" "runaway" or "free visa" workers. These are people who often escape such conditions and continue to work outside the extremely limiting framework of the Kafala system. Many of them are then arrested as "illegal" workers, detained, and then deported.

In other cases, these women have turned to the authorities which are supposed to help them. We have seen this many times, where an abused woman manages to reach a police station to file a report. She may even have been raped, this has happened in our experience.
And many times we have seen that she is returned to her abuser. If not, if she decides to go ahead with a court case (which will carry on for an undetermined length of time, may cost a lot of monay, and may not be successful), her alternative option is to stay in jail.
Because the kafala systems says that if she is to be allowed to stay in that country, then she has to be living with her sponsor or employer - and if she is not, she is violating the law, even if he is
her abuser or in some cases her rapist. So the system treats the victims as criminals.

These violations then create the kind of issues that local authorities and governments complain about - large numbers of "illegal" free visa workers, and women working in prostitution.

Conclusion is that not only does this system generate violations of human rights for those living under it, but by creating these inhumane conditions it contributes to the issues which the governments of the region claim to be working against

Bahrain: a Heaven for Investors and the Wealthy
While workers suffer poverty and discrimination

Issued by the Bahrain Center for Human Rights
June 2007

Summary of the report:

• The Ministry of Labor forces Bahrainis to become cheap laborers for the private sector without adequate working conditions
• Enormous disparity in wages of up to 50 fold in the government sector, and 1000 fold in the private sector
• Salary increases in the salaries of government employees: Senior and Middle received 11 fold-increase in comparison to the lower waged employees
• Bahraini families face difficulties in providing minimum needs for less than BD400 to BD500 per month:
• 48% of the workforce in the government sector receive only BD200/-, (this is after the recent salary increase).
• 18 thousand Bahrainis who work in the private sector are paid less than BD200/-.
• More than 162 thousand Bahrainis and foreigners earn less than BD99/- per month.
• 60% of pensions in the private sector do not exceed BD250/-, and about 5% do not exceed BD100/-.
• The average wage preference of men over women is: BD63/- in government and BD147/- in the private sector
• Salaries of three thousands Bahraini women working in kindergarten, who work in poor conditions, starts from BD40/- 63% of them are uninsured.
• The ratio of foreign workers in the Public Sector is 10% and in the Private Sector has jumped in 2006 to 80%
• The average wage preference of Bahraini over a non-Bahraini is BD170/-
• Increasing death incidents and suicides among foreign workers due to psychological, financial and deteriorating working conditions.
• The government prohibits the establishment of unions in the government sectors and target “the unemployed committee" and prevents the collection of signatures on petitions which call for improved wages.

Standards of living and wage levels:

The semi-official studies indicate that the poverty line for a Bahraini family in the year 1995 was stable at BD309/-, but the cost of life has since rapidly doubled. This makes it difficult for any Bahraini family to provide itself with minimum needs for less than BD400/- to BD500/- per month. This is especially true when considering the high cost of housing, escalating food prices, and the lack of public transportation. While the State does not impose any taxes on income or investment made by the higher classes, average citizens are now being overloaded with 40 kinds of excessive fees for governmental services.

This report contains information from governmental sources which indicate that salaries in the Public Sector start at BD200/- per month, while there is no minimum wage in the Private sector. Most Bahrainis work in the Private sector, where wages can be less than BD40/-. The Ministry of Labor has introduced projects, encouraging the Private Sector to employ the unemployed nationals and the Ministry is temporarily supporting the salaries provided, on stipend basis, to new recruits. But this only targets the workers with low wages ranging between BD200/- (Secondary School graduates) and BD300/- (University Graduates), which makes the Ministry a tool for providing cheap national labor to the Private Sectors.

Stripping the disadvantaged workers from the right of freedom of organization, assembly and writing of petitions

The Government forbids Public Sector employees from forming their own trade unions. The government is currently investigating with employees who established five unions in the public sector; they have also prevented them from collecting signatures on a petition calling for a 25% wage raise. The government has also prevented the Teachers Society from collecting signatures on a petition which calls for a raise in the salaries of teachers. During 2005-2006 the Authority has dealt harshly with protests organized by the "Committee for the unemployed ", it used excessive force to disperse them on various occasions. Some members have been abducted, assaulted and threatened, and some were arrested and brought to unfair trials on the charges of participating in “unlicensed” gatherings and they have been sentenced with imprisonment for periods ranging between one and two years. Last week the "Committee for the Unemployed" received a second letter from the Ministry of Social Affairs, threatening the Committee with prosecution if they do not stop their activities. During the month of April the Committee organized four Walking-Marathons in poor villages throughout Bahrain to raise awareness and demand the rights of economic and social development. The committee has collected, so far, several thousand signatures on a petition calling for decent jobs and improvement of wages.

The government sector: low wages, disparity in wages, and lack of justice in the raise system:

This table shows which government employees have received a raise (38 thousand employees in total), according to the Head of the Civil Service Bureau:

Type of Employee: No. of recipients
Doctors 1000
Judges 160
Specialist Cadre 1800
Executive Cadre 900
increased salaries to reach BD200/- 18,370

Conclusions from the table:

• 48% of the workforce in the government sector earn only BD200/- per month, this is after the salary increase.
• The biggest share of the raises was received by those in senior and middle positions (the average increase for senior and middle positions was about BD236/-) and those who are in lower-level jobs and receive low wages got insignificant increases (an average of BD21/- per month).

The salaries and privileges of ministers and their deputies:

According to the new law the Prime Minister will earn BD5500/- (five thousand and 500 Dinars), while his deputies will receive BD4500/- (four thousand and 500 Dinars), while ministers receive BD3500/- (three thousand and 500 Dinars). In addition to that the Prime Minister, his deputies and the ministers receive the amount of BD500/- as representation allowance, as well as one car for official use and a fixed telephone line, mobile and a line for the Internet . Ministers receive an annual grant for the occasion of the month of Holy Ramadan amounting to BD50,000/- (Fifty thousand Dinars) at a monthly rate of over four thousand Dinars. They are also being granted large areas of land for free. And many of them have been, directly or indirectly, involved in their own business and financial matters, though these contravene with the Constitutional Article no. 48 . Some also use their positions to influence and obtain concessions in governmental transactions, or to obtain facilities for their commercial or financial activity. Due to the foregoing privileges and authoritative abuses, a number of them have become among the wealthiest in region.

Low wages in the private sector:

This table shows wage rates in the Private Sector of the insured Bahrainis and foreigners (according to the General Organization for Social Insurance):

Note: The Highest wage received by employees is BD50,000/- per month

Monthly Wage: No. of Employees
Over BD4,000/- 679
Over BD1000/- 9,585
Ranging between BD50/- – BD99/- 111,856
Less than BD50/- 50,465

Conclusions from the table:
• The differences in wages in the private sector ranges from BD50/- (fifty Dinars) to BD50,000/- (fifty thousand Dinars) which is a thousand fold difference, this is an extremely huge difference. Therefore, the calculation of an average of wages is significantly misleading. Nevertheless, last years average wage in the private sector did not exceed BD214/-. This is in accordance with the General Organization for Social Insurance.
• More than 162 thousand Bahrainis and foreigners earn less than BD99/- per month

The workers in the government sector enjoy relatively better conditions when compared to workers in the private sector. Especially in regard to the retirement scheme and social allowances for heads of families and the number of working hours, averaging to 35 hours per week. While the number of working hours for the Private Sector employees is usually not less than 48 hours a week.

"One of the reasons for low wages in the private sector is the absence of legislation which sets a minimum wage. This is despite the fact that Bahrain ratified “Arab wages Agreement”, in addition to the absence of a ladder in hierarchy in many of the private institutions. There are cases registered with the Union in which certain employees have worked continuously for more than 20 years and their salary has not gone above BD200/-. The largest group of workers in the private sector are non–university Graduates who make up about 60% of the total Bahraini workforce. "

"While the Minister of Labor Majeed Al-Alawi emphasizes that it is not the government's intention to put a minimum wage in the private sector, Al-Alawi excused this refusal to impose a minimum wage by stating that it is closely related to the wages of foreign laborers, since the imposition of minimum wages would lead to higher wages for foreign workers .. Al-Alawi continued that “there are currently about 18 thousand Bahrainis whose wages are less than BD200/-, and we know where they work”

"The Minister of Labor Majeed Al-Alawi stressed that the Ministry of Labor is still going ahead with its program to improve the salaries of Bahraini workers in the Private sector so that citizens who hold secondary certificates or below will receive the minimum wage of BD200/- as for those who hold an accredited Diploma BD250/-, and the minimum wage for those with a bachelor degree and above would be BD300/-. He indicated that the Ministry believes that these rates are still low compared to what they hope for. The program (Wage Improvement Program) so far succeeded in raising the wages of no less than 13 thousand Bahraini workers.. Al-Alawi also pointed out that despite the fact that low wages in the private sector are under the BD 200/- however the average rate ranges between BD150/- to BD199/-, this is according to what has been monitored in the statistical studies carried out by the Ministry"

Low pension:

"Nearly 60% of pensions in the Private sector do not exceed BD250/- and about 5% of them do not even exceed BD100/-.. That contradicts the Governmental decision, which sets the minimum pension at BD180/- "

Discrimination against women in employment and wages:

In the Public Sector: In 2006 the monthly average salary of Bahraini Females was BD643/- compared to BD706/- for Bahraini males, i.e. the difference of BD63/-. The ratio of female employment in the Public Sector was 44% which translates into 15340 out of the total amount of jobs where Bahrainis are employed. This number does not include the military (Defense and the Guard) and security (Interior and the National Security Service), in which the number of female employees is very low.

As for the Private Sector the Bahraini female employees receive much lower wages than the males. In the year 2006 the Bahraini females’ average monthly salary was BD307/- compared to BD454/- for Bahraini males , i.e. a difference of BD147/-. According to the 2006 statistics provided by the General Organization for Social Insurance, the number of Bahraini female insured in the private sector was 17701. That constitutes about 27% of total employment in the Bahraini private sector. Although it is the same percentage for 2005, however the number of female employees has actually decline by 1059 jobs.

As an example for low salaries of Bahraini women we can look at "the number of Female Bahraini workers which reaches 2880 workers in the garment factories and textiles with the average wage of BD120/-, this includes transportation allowance. The allotments of wages are often not differentiated between primary and secondary graduates and skilled or unskilled workers ." And the fact is that "large numbers in the Bahraini workforce are still paid less than BD100/- as is the case for female workers in kindergartens and garment factories"

Child care as an example for the abuse of the rights and dignity of working women:
"The estimated number of female workers in kindergartens is three thousand, of whom only 1050 are covered under the social insurance program. The most obvious example of legal violation by the owners of kindergartens towards their workers is the setting up of short-term contracts which do not exceed one academic season (i.e. between early September until the end of June, of each year, or the equivalent of 9 to 10 months each year). The most notable effects of this contract is that workers are being deprived from continued Social Insurance coverage. This will consequently necessitate the worker to work extra years to be eligible to received pension.
"The problem of low wages ranging from BD40/- to BD135/-, is the unpaid official holidays, maternity leave and infant breast-feeding-hours, and the dismissal of women during pregnancy in some kindergartens, and should workers want to take the provided sick leave, the person is required to find an alternative person to fulfill the job for free.
“Some kindergartens do not have contracts with their female workers, especially with those teachers who do not possess the required qualifications to practice teaching. Those females suffer from the number of tasks assigned to them, such as teaching, cleaning classrooms, in addition to changing children's clothing, feeding them, all of this for a salary not exceeding BD50/-. Not to mention the consistent insults towards them. The owners of these kindergartens do not hesitate to threaten the female workers with ending their services by firing them at any time and without justification. This sector is suffering from competition by large immigrant Arab women in the kingdom , there is a group of females that Bahraini law does not allow to enter the labor market because they are allowed into the country only to accompany their husbands or their families, and thus they work illegally in Kindergartens. "

Foreign labor: The reason for & the victims of low wages

The General Organization for Social Insurance, highlighted that the general average wage in the private sector of last year was BD214/-, as for Bahraini workers it was BD377/-, while the average wage for foreign laborers was BD170/- , this amounts to a difference of BD207/- per month. According to official figures attributed to the General Organization for Social Insurance , the precise total numbers of the workforce in the private sector in the year 2006 was 313039, distributed as follows: 65614 National labor (or 21%) and the remaining 247425 immigrant labor. In the Public Sector: out of 38823 jobs in the year 2006 the share of 34771 was for Bahraini citizens, which was about 90% .

"What raises questions in the case of Bahrain is the presence of high unemployment figures, with the presence of high numbers of migrant workers... The problem with Bahraini labor market is the openness of the market which has a limited domestic demand and has been introduced to an unlimited external supply. Because of the prevailing economic freedom in Bahrain, employers prefer to employ foreign workers, taking into account costs and revenues, to maximize their profits and obtain an increased efficiency and competitiveness in their institutions."

The government has recruited more than 20 thousand Baloushi Pakistani’s, and members of tribes from Yemen, Jordan, and Syria, in the defense forces, the National Guard and police. The government gave them privileges relating to salaries, housing and even citizenship, while it almost closed recruitment in these sectors to the citizens and especially those belonging to the Shiite sect. While Article (16) of the Constitution states: Foreigners should not be given Public posts except when prescribed by law, and that all citizens are considered equal in their right to fulfill any public post in accordance with the conditions established by law."

However, the Asian workers who are low-skilled, are living in tragic conditions which exceed what Bahrainis suffer from as far as wages and working conditions. “The foreign workers usually live in small residential areas with crowded rooms, where one room is shared by 12 workers or more, usually they also share one toilet ... The workers need basic necessities and minimum standards of living ." Some foreign workers are forced to work for long hours a day, sometimes up to 16 hours a day, including weekends. The foreign workers are also usually transported in large numbers in uncovered trucks which are not suitable for passengers, despite it being a violation of the law.

Sheikh Abdel Rahman Bin Abdullah, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Labor says that "we are very concerned about accidents at work especially the increased numbers of deaths .. some of these workers are working in areas which are not their specialization or that they are not trained for, therefore foreign workers are falling to their death from scaffoldings at the tower projects .. One of the workers who were killed recently – we discovered that he had worked as a restaurant manager and not a construction worker!” He added,

“We have doubled the penalties against employers who hire run-away workers not in the right specialization .. but this did not achieve anything .. for we still hear about accidents at work every day! The minister then advised; “some Bahrainis receive work permits for unreal new projects .. then they release those workers in markets without training and here lies the tragedy .. Some Bahrainis receive 50 work permits and then release the workers in the market! And when we ask them where they are? .. the respond that they escaped! .. Is this reasonable?

The Minister also said; “We are also disturbed by the phenomenon of suicide amongst foreign workers .. those who come to Bahrain with the belief that they are coming to Paradise. But after discovering the nature of their work, they get shocked, for they had sold all their property in India, for example .. because of this shock they commit suicide! “employment offices abroad are responsible for what is happening as they give the worker a bright picture of Bahrain, describing it as a Paradise .. and when the worker comes to Bahrain and discover the reality they commit suicide! "

According to National and international reports, women domestic workers remain the most vulnerable to abuse and assault due to the lack of legal and practical protection.

S. S. Police Severely beat Mr. Ahmed and break his jaw
When pleading for water he was force fed sand and pebbles

Urgent Appeal Ref.28/05/07

The Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) is shocked to find yet another victim of the Special Security (S. S.) Police in the hospital. Today we received information about 46 year-old Hameed Yousef Ahmed who is currently being treated in the military hospital because of injuries reportedly caused by S. S. police. Among his injuries are a broken tooth, and a broken jaw.

Mr Ahmed, an unemployed Bahraini, said that he was on his way home to Sanabis on the 21st of May when he saw young men running away from the S. S. police. Minutes later he was seized by the security police and beaten. He told the BCHR that he was then taken by the security forces to Sanabis graveyard and got more beatings. After that he was handed over to another group of the S. S. police who took him and another man (Alkhabbaz, Ref.24/05/07) to the Exhibition center roundabout, beating them all the way there. When they reached the roundabout the two men were thrown on the ground and beaten.

Amongst the non Bahraini S. S. police, there was one who was dressed in traditional Arab clothes and he looked Bahraini. This man started stepping on Mr. Ahmed’s head. Mr. Ahmed continues:

“I started telling them that I was thirsty, I was pleading for water. The Bahraini-looking police told the others to open my mouth, and they filled my mouth with sand. In the sand there were pebbles and that caused my tooth to break. Then the same man turned his gun and hit me on my face with it, and broke my jaw.”

At that point there was a woman who was driving by, she stopped her car and asked the police to stop beating the two men. The S. S. police started swearing at her, hitting her car and damaging it, until she drove off. Finally, the two men were taken to Exhibition center police station, were the police took pictures for them, placed tear gas shells in front of them, and put masks on their faces, according to Mr. Ahmed.

Other than the broken jaw and tooth, Mr. Ahmed also suffers from difficulty in breathing, and bruises in his legs, knee cap, knees and ribs. Moreover, he complained that has no balance and therefore has great difficulty in standing or walking.

The BCHR is gravely concerned especially that this is the fourth injured victim of the S. S. police found in the hospital in the last few days. And there could be more victims who the BCHR does not know about yet.

The BCHR again urges the authorities to put an end to the use of excessive force and torture by its security forces, and to promptly and impartially investigate these cases and find and put on trial anyone who is involved in these atrocious acts. Finally the victims of such acts must be redressed and compensated.

Bahraini citizen beaten severely, used as human shield, then placed in hospital arrest

Posted: 24 May 2007 12:43 PM CDT

Bahraini citizen beaten severely, used as human shield, then placed in hospital arrest
Victim's family has been denied rights to visit or information
Urgent Appeal Ref. 24/05/07

The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) is highly concerned about the health and well being of a Bahraini citizen by the name of Ali Saeed Al-Khabbaz, 22 years, from Al-Qufool. An eyewitness told BCHR that he saw Al-Khabbaz being beaten severely by more than ten of the Special Security Police, most of them were non-Bahrainis.

"They were beating him continuously all over his body, they hit his head against the wall until he started bleeding. After that one of the police held him up from his hair, putting a rubber bullet gun on his shoulder, and pushing him forward using him as human shield against protesters stones while advancing in the narrow streets"

Mr. Al-Khabbaz was arrested on the 21st of this month when security forces attacked a peaceful gathering by the house of the political activist Hassan Mushaima in relation to solidarity with the latter.

The family of the victim have heard about the brutal way their son was beaten and that he was transferred to the Military hospital suffering of severe injuries. They have written a letter of urgent appeal, asking human rights organization for an intervention in their sons case. On the 23rd of May, the family gathered at the Al-Nuaim police station demanding to see their son. After about four hours the family, including ten women and their children, refused to leave, the special police were brought and the family were physically thrown out. Now, after four days from the arrest, Al-Khabbaz's family still do not know about his condition, and they have been denied any visitation or information.

The BCHR urges the authorities to release Mr. Al-Khabbaz. If there are any sound charges against him, his rights must be insured in accordance with international standards, including the prompt visit by his family and access to a lawyer and in biased medical care.

The BCHR calls for urgent and impartial investigation in the use of excessive force by the Special Security Police, especially in Mr. Al-Khabbaz case, and to bring violators to Justice.