INDIA/WORLD: Release female Indian Migrant Worker and others of various nationalities trafficked and illegally Confined in Abu Dhabi

Dear Friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Alternate Law Forum (ALF), Bangalore, concerning the plight of migrant workers in Abu Dhabi, particularly an Indian woman. Thousands of Indian migrant workers in the Middle East region suffer from deprivation of liberty and inhuman working conditions, and often do not have recourse to the law. It is essential that the State takes urgent cognizance of abuses of vulnerable Indian workers abroad, and ensures that appropriate steps are taken to address the issues highlighted within this Urgent Appeal.

Case Narrative

The AHRC has taken note of information received from ALF, a Bangalore-based legal advocacy group that addresses human rights violations across the country, about the illegal confinement of Ms.S, an Indian national who migrated to Abu Dhabi as a domestic worker, and about domestic workers from other countries. As per data collected by the Migration Policy Institute in 2013, the UAE employs nearly 8 million migrant workers, of which Indians form nearly one-quarter of the number. About 90% of private workers in the UAE are migrants from India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, who are employed in various capacities, but primarily as construction workers or domestic helpers. There have been numerous documented instances of prolonged confinement, confiscation of passports, and physical abuse of these workers, but only a miniscule number of these cases have been prosecuted.

S travelled to Abu Dhabi through the Bangalore-based National Tours and Travels, having coordinated with Aamir Ahmed, an individual employed by the agency. Her role in the household is as the family cook, but she has been forced to work extremely long hours, has not been provided with any leave, and has been constantly verbally abused. Her passport has also been confiscated, preventing her from leaving the country. On 2 August 2017, she was informed that she was fired from her job, and would be sent back to the agent’s office. Arrangements were made by ALF and the Indian Workers Resource Centre (IWRC) to take S to the Indian embassy on the next day. However, S was ordered to leave the embassy and had to return to her employers, who then sent her to her agent’s office on 4 August 2017. She was locked inside the office with around ten other women, all of whom are under constant CCTV surveillance, till August 9.

S made several attempts to escape, but was dragged back by her agents, who confiscated her phone and locked her in another room. Finally, on August 9, she was apparently rescued by the Indian embassy in the UAE. The Indian Embassy had earlier stated that they cannot rescue S nor will they call the police, and can only help her if she comes to the embassy once more on her own. The agents have threatened to hand her over to the police on a flimsy pretext. She lives in constant fear of being imprisoned in a foreign country or transferred to a different employer and being unable to return to India, as she still does not have her passport. She is intermittently in contact with ALF, to whom she has circulated videos of the conditions of her confinement.

The latest information that ALF has received (as per August 9) is that instead of being rescued, the women were actually arrested by the Abu Dhabi police, and are currently in their custody. Charges have not been filed yet and it is not certain on whose complaint they were arrested. There are Filipino, Ethiopian and Indonesian workers who have also been confined there and help is sought to rescue them.

Background

The status of migrant workers in the Middle East is precarious due to the prevalence of the Kafala system, wherein a temporary worker is allowed to migrate only if they have an in-country sponsor who is responsible for their visa and legal status. This allows employers and agents to have excessive control over the lives of these workers, most of whom belong to poor families, and who cannot secure legal working status by themselves. Some nations such as Bahrain and Qatar have formally repealed this system, but it persists in practice and law enforcement does little to prevent it. 

The Migration Policy Institute estimates that a significant proportion of the 65,000 illegal or unauthorized workers – those who entered illegally, over-stayed their visas, or work for a person other than the one named as their sponsor – have had their documents confiscated. There are an estimated three million Indian workers in the UAE alone, of which about 150,000 are female, as per a report by Human Rights Watch, compiled in 2014. The report documented numerous instances of sexual violence, physical and verbal abuse, lack of breaks and insufficient food, with almost all workers reporting that their passports were immediately confiscated.

Additional Information

Migrant workers who arrive in the UAE are required to sign a standard contract, which allows them eight hours of sleep, one free day a week and thirty days paid leave in a year; however there is no limitation on working hours or provision for overtime, and allows employers to deduct money from the prescribed wages – which is often much less than the amount initially agreed upon – for damages or breakage attributed to workers at their own discretion. Article 8 of the UAE Employment Contract for Domestic Workers and the Like directs that any contractual or wage-related disputes must be adjudicated by the Directorate of Residency and Foreign Affairs, which only takes into account the provisions of the standard contract and not any earlier agreement. 

Under UAE Federal Law No.6 of 1973 on the Entry and Residence of Foreigners, sponsors of migrant workers reserve the right to cancel their work permit and residence visa, requiring them to procure a new sponsor within 30 days, which entails an often prohibitive cost of around 3,000 USD.The provisions of the Federal Law keep migrant workers perpetually in fear of imprisonment or deportation without payment, effectively preventing them from taking contractual disputes to the Directorate. The UAE has ratified the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, which requires States to ensure that persons who have been trafficked will not be prosecuted for any violations of the law incidental to their trafficking, including immigration laws.

Labour trafficking cases are increasingly common and the Indian government has intervened in many cases in the past. In this case though, it has taken a lot of concerted efforts and building of pressure of the authorities to act only to have the women arrested. Confining workers and exploiting and abusing them is illegal, whatever ‘crime’ they may have committed, and deserves immediate intervention, once the authorities have been notified. In this case, they were in confinement for three long days at the agent’s office. Every human being has the right to life and personal dignity under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the foundational instrument of international human rights law. Additionally, states are required to proactively prevent slavery and the slave trade, which includes forced or compulsory labour, under Article 4 of the UDHR and Article 8 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). 
Suggested Action

It is apparent that this is a case of labour trafficking, and the human rights of the migrant workers have been severely violated, and that the Indian state, the other countries, UAE, her employers, and agents are all complicit in the matter. Please write letters to the relevant authorities requesting them to address the matter at the earliest, and to ensure that S and the other women is brought home immediately. 

The AHRC is writing a separate letter to Urmila Bhoola, the UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary forms of Slavery and to Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, the UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons.

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