Abuse female expatriate workers face
The additional secretary at the expatriates welfare and overseas employment ministry recently stated at a seminar that "we have observed that young female domestic workers become victims of sexual abuse abroad". This is hardly news but certainly we appreciate the government's candour in the matter that our female migrant workers, primarily in the Middle East, are being subjected to physical abuse. The government is yet to commit to ILO Convention 189 for the Protection of Women Domestic Workers, and, even further back in 2010, it had promised to provide cell phones and local SIM cards for female migrant workers which they could use to communicate for help, but that apparently went nowhere.
The fact is that we have unscrupulous recruiting agencies and brokers who are involved in a racket that put our female workers abroad in near-servitude conditions where they have no rights.
If we were to take the example of neighbouring India, where the government has gone as far as blacklisting some unethical agents for their alleged involvement in cheating and exploiting female workers, much of the agony faced by our workers could be avoided.
Why is it that the authorities are reluctant to move against repeated allegations of abuse by female expatriate workers against recruiters? It is high time we ratify the ILO convention and take steps to formalise the sector. Our embassies abroad must have a dedicated labour officer who will answer a hotline which can be accessed and most importantly, the government must take up these repeat violations of human rights with host countries.
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