Bangladeshi women in ME poorly paid

Bangladeshi female domestic workers in the Middle East get one of the lowest wages, and are more exposed to exploitation, Human Rights Watch said in a statement yesterday.

“The embassies of other countries of origin require employers to agree to monthly minimum salaries, but Bangladesh has one of the lowest at about 16,000 BDT ($200), while the Philippines insists on the highest of $400," HRW said.

The statement comes a day before the three-day conference of Global Forum on Migration and Development, a meeting of governments to share best practices and collaborate on migration policy, beginning in Dhaka today.

“Bangladesh is hosting an important global conference on migration, yet has an abysmal record protecting its own citizens,” said Rothna Begum, Middle East women's rights researcher at the HRW. 

Hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshi women are in the Middle East. Over one lakh women have migrated there for work from January to October 2016 alone, said the statement, citing Bangladesh's Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training. 

Other domestic workers' countries of origin such as Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Nepal have vocally denounced abuses abroad and increased protections and salary requirements for their migrant workers, but not Bangladesh.

Begum urged Bangladesh to coordinate with other countries of origin to raise and harmonise minimum salary demands and other protections to benefit all workers.

The global rights watchdog said most country-of-origin embassies in the Middle East provide shelter to domestic workers who flee abusive employers, including while they seek assistance and decide whether to file claims against their employers, but Bangladeshi embassies only offer shelter in some countries, HRW said. 

It also urged Bangladesh to ensure its embassies provide shelter and increase capacity to assist such workers.

Most Middle East governments prohibit recruiters from charging migrant workers recruitment fees, whereas Bangladesh allows licensed recruiters to charge women migrant worker recruits up to Tk 20,000 ($259). 

But some Bangladeshi women who spoke to HRW in Oman said they had paid recruiters up to one lakh Bangladeshi taka ($1,265) for work abroad.

Citing a July 2016 HRW survey on abuses against migrant domestic workers in Oman, it said dozens of interviewees were from Bangladesh, and almost all of them said their employers had confiscated their passports. 

Many said their employers did not pay them their full salaries, forced them to work excessively long hours without breaks or days off, or denied them adequate food and living conditions. Some said their employers had physically assaulted them; a few described sexual abuse.

Bangladeshi workers' accounts of abuse were among the most extreme HRW documented in Oman, including cases amounting to forced labour and trafficking.

Mentioning the kafala system, which is applied across the Gulf, HRW said it restricts migrant domestic workers to find a new employer without the current employer's permission, even if their employer is abusive. Labour laws in many of the Middle East countries exclude domestic workers from protections.

HRW also suggested that Bangladesh should ratify the ILO Domestic Worker Convention that requires countries of origin to cooperate with labour-receiving countries to ensure protection of migrant domestic workers.

“Bangladesh should call on Middle Eastern governments to reform their laws and policies to better protect domestic workers,” it said. “Migrant domestic workers cook, care, and clean for families in the Middle East, and their rights should be protected.”