Lakshmi Parvathi is an Indian immigrant worker in Bahrain. She was hired by her sponsor as a maid. Recently, she was found in tattered clothing wandering the streets of Bahrain, following her attempted escape from her employer. This was the second time she was unsuccessful in her attempt to flee from her abusive sponsor and return to her husband in Andhra Pradesh. Previously, the police captured her and returned Parvathi to her employer. The Indian Embassy would not issue her a return ticket, because she had not completed her year long obligation to the employer. Therefore, she was not legally entitled to a ticket. Additionally, she was unable to purchase a ticket on her own, because her employer had withheld three months of her wages.
Migrant workers are regularly mistreated in the Middle East. The migrant workers, usually from Asia, are drawn to higher paying salaries. The wages are usually around $4 for menial jobs. The workers are mostly women. They usually work as maids at homes and cook, clean, and take care of children. In exchange for their services, their sponsors provide the workers with housing and transportation. Thus, the women send their salaries back to support their families.
The migrants are in weak positions to stand up for themselves. Many of the nations fiercely protect their citizens and are repressive toward the migrant workers. Therefore, it is difficult for the workers protect themselves from their sponsors’ abuse. For example, when a migrant complains against her employers, it is easy for the employer to retaliate by making a false accusation against the worker. The sponsors’ word is almost automatically trusted and the worker is quickly tossed in jail. Once released from jail, the worker is returned to her employer to finish her obligation. Also, it is difficult for the employee to protest that she is not being compensated her scheduled amount. The reason is that the employer can hesitate to pay the woman until the fulfillment of their obligation. Immediately, upon the termination of the agreement happen, the woman’s visa expires expelling her from the country, and further isolating the employer from repercussions of the withheld payment.
The local governments must protect these women. Abusive sponsors have taken advantage of these women by beating them and also withholding payment from them. The sponsors need to be made accountable for their actions. This could be done by the Asian embassies issuing the visas to the sponsors by taking a more proactive approach to protecting their citizens. For example, each sponsor should have to go to through a verification process. Thus, it will at least protect the women from serial abusers. Also, it should charge the sponsors a certain premium on the issuance of the visa to pay for an exit interview of the migrant workers. The other solution for the women is to place outside pressure on the Middle Eastern countries to monitor the abusive employers.
Gulf Daily News. Maid found wandering in the street. 5 July 2007.
Bits of News. Migrant Workers in the Middle East. 2 July 2007.
Independent Online. Migrants and the Middle East: Welcome to the other side of Dubai. 28 March 2006.
Middle East Report Online. “Model Employees:” Sri Lankan domestics in Lebanon.
Charles Taylor Ends Boycott
By Impunity Watch Africa
Charles Taylor, the former Liberian president on trial in The Hague for war crimes, appeared in the court for the first time Tuesday. Wearing a blue suit and yellow tie, Taylor arrived twenty minutes late for a procedural hearing during which the judges explained why they had agreed to once again postpone the trial until August 20.
Taylor did not explain his decision to come to court, and the only words he spoke were to plead not guilty to the amended charge of sexual slavery. The slightly amended charge is a crime against humanity and covers the abduction, rape, and use as sex slaves of an unknown number of women and girls. Taylor has already pleaded not guilty to eleven charges in connection with his alleged control over armed rebels in Sierra Leone who murdered, raped, mutilated, and enslaved civilians.
The trial began with a day of opening statements on June 4, with a second day later that month. Taylor boycotted both days after firing his court-appointed attorney and claiming the court was not giving him a fair trial. The first prosecution witnesses were due to be heard on Tuesday, but court officials responsible for ensuring a fair trial filed a motion last week to have the trial further delayed until Taylor received adequate counsel. The judges agreed to postpone the trial until August 20 in order to give the new defense team, which has yet to be appointed, enough time to prepare. In explaining the decision, presiding Judge Julia Sebutinde of Uganda stated that the court blamed officials in the court’s registry for not appointing new defense attorneys in time for the trial and that Taylor should not be punished for the “laxity of the registry.”
Prosecutor Stephen Rapp has voiced his disapproval of the decision, dismissing his concerns as administrative issues “blown out of proportion in order to create a reason for what we view as obstruction of justice in this case.” He added that Taylor is receiving more money for his case, up to $2 million, than any other defendant charged by the court.
For more information, please see:
AllAfrica – Charles Taylor Appears at Trial – 03 July 2007
CNN – Liberia’s Taylor Appears in Court – 03 July 2007
International Herald Tribune – Charles Taylor Attends Hearing in War Crimes Trial – 03 July 2007
Reuters – Liberia’s Taylor Appears in Court After Boycott – 03 July 2007
Washington Post – Charles Taylor Attends Trial Hearing – 03 July 2007
Lebanese Army fires on Palestinian protesters
On June 29, hundreds of Palestinians staged a protest and marched three miles from Baddawi camp to Nahr al-Bared. Most protesters were Palestinian refugees who fled the Nahr al-Bared camp after fighting began in late May. The purpose of the protest was to regain access to their home. Many fear that the damage resulting from the heavy fighting will prevent them from returning to their homes.
During the march, Lebanese soldiers fired on the protesters, killing two and wounding many more. Witnesses stated that when marchers drew close to an army checkpoint, the soldiers fired in the air above them. When the crowd did not disperse, soldiers fired their weapons at the protesters. While witnesses and protesters stated that the march was a peaceful demonstration, the Lebanese army issued a statement that marchers attacked the soldiers with sticks and knives.
For more information please see:
ABC News: “2 shot dead in refugee protest in Lebanon” 30 June 2007.
New York Times: “Lebanese troops kill 2 Palestinian protesters and wound 30” 30 June 2007.
BBC: “Lebanese army ‘kills protesters’” 29 June 2007.
Guardian: “2 Reported killed in Northern Lebanon” 29 June 2007.
Reuters: “Lebanese troops fire at Palestinian protest, 2 die” 29 June 2007.
VOA News: “Lebanese army fires at protesters outside Palestinian camp” 29 June 2007.
Month Long Strike Comes to a Halt
By Myriam Clerge
Impunity Watch, Africa
South African public service called an end to the nearly month long strike Thursday when a majority of unions accepted a 7.5 percent pay offer from the government. The strike began June 1.
The strike, which was the longest and largest since the end of the apartheid regime in 1994, had a devastating effect. The protest showed 600,000 teachers, nurses and other civil servants walk off the job on June 1. Angry union members marched through major cities in demonstrations, while many schools closed due to teacher walkouts and public hospitals operated with help from army medical staffing. The strike was also becoming increasingly embarrassing for the ruling African National Congress.
Unions accuse President Thabo Mbeki of abandoning the poor through his pro-business policies. South Africa’s economy is booming but civil servants have complained their wages can barely keep up with rising prices.
The unions had demanded a 12 percent pay rise at the start of the strike while the government initially refused to budge from its offer of six percent. The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) said that the majority of unions had agreed to sign up to the government’s offer, which was formally placed on the table on June 22.
Others still had to consult their members while the main teachers union is not prepared to sign and will be in further talk with the government. President of the National Professional Teachers’ Union (NAPTOSA), Dave Balt said discussions over compensation for workers would take place over the next three months.
Schooling will not be affected due to teachers currently on their winter holiday. However, COSATU said all its members who have signed would now return to work.
For more information please see:
BBC – S Africa Unions Calls Off Strike – 28 June 2007
CNN – Crippling Four-Week Strike in South Africa Ends – 28 June 2007
Yahoo – South African Unions End Four-Week Strike – 28 June 2007
BBC – S Africa Unions Split Over Strike – 25 June 2007
Local Justice for Ugandan Refugees
By Meryl White
Impunity Watch, Africa
The LRA has carried out over 10,000 deaths in Uganda over the past twenty years. In northern Uganda, more than one million people have been displaced by the conflict and have been forced to settle in refugee camps. Furthermore, over 75,000 people have been abducted by LRA forces in the past two decades of insurgency.
The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels have initiated a peace deal with the Ugandan government in an attempt to settle a 20-year conflict. These discussions are part of a five-part peace process in attempt to end the civil war. These deals will promote “alternative justice mechanisms” to achieve reconciliation and justice.
Martin Ojul, head of the LRA delegation in Sudan, stated “We signed the agreement on reconciliation and accountability late last night, which moves us one step closer to a final peace agreement.”
Under the deal, the government and the rebels will support the use of the Ugandan justice system to combat human rights abuses. Rebels favor the use of Ugandan courts to protect suspected criminals from international search warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands. Furthermore, they favor local justice because it less severe and will help to effectuate national reconciliation.
Nevertheless, the ICC has issued arrest warrants against LRA leader Joseph Kony, and his deputy commander Vincent Otti. Moreover, warrants have been issued against two senior rebels for mass murder, mutilation and for the use of child soldiers in the 20-year war.
For more information, please see:
AllAfrica – Uganda: 75,000 LRA Abductees Missing, Says Report – 02 July 2007
Reuters – Uganda, Rebels Agree Local Justice for War Crimes – July 2007
BBC – Uganda Rebels in New Peace Move – 30 June 2007