Bangladeshi domestic workers exploited in Oman: HRW
Many Bangladeshis are among the female migrant domestic workers who have been experiencing abuse and exploitation by their recruiters in Oman, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in its report yesterday.
Even some of them were trapped there and their employers forced them to adopt a life of modern slavery, HRW added in its report posted on its website depicting the ongoing bleak scenario in the gulf country. It made the report based on interviews with 59 female domestic workers in Oman in May, 2015.
I would start working at 4:30am and finish at 1am. For the entire day they would not let me sit. I used to be exhausted. There were 20 rooms and over 2 floors. He would not give me food. When I said I want to leave, he said, I bought you for 1,560 rials (US$4,052) from Dubai. Give it back to me and then you can go, said a Bangladeshi domestic worker in Oman.
There are at least 130,000 female migrant domestic workers, and possibly many more, are employed in the country. They were recruited from Asia and Africaincluding the Philippines, Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Ethiopia with the promise of decent salaries and good working conditions.
But the reality is bleak. After they arrive, many find themselves trapped with abusive employers and forced to work in exploitative conditions, their plight hidden behind closed doors, the reports also said.
In some cases, workers described abuses that amounted to forced labor or trafficking, including across Omans porous border with the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While this report does not purport to quantify the precise scale of these abuses, it is clear that abuses are widespread and that they are generally carried out with impunity.
Most of the workers we interviewed said their employers confiscated their passports, a practice that appears to be commonplace even though Omans government prohibits it. 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 physically abused them; a few described sexual abuse.
In some cases, women worked for large, extended families or in multiple houses. Parveen A., a Bangladeshi domestic worker, said she worked for a family of 15 in 4 houses in their compound in Sohar, a port city in northern Oman. She said she worked for 16 months from 4am until midnight with no day off. She said her employer only paid her 50 Omani rials a month ($130), 20 rials less than she was owed, and withheld 4 months salary entirely.
Domestic workers described common employer practices that kept them isolated from sources of support, namely passport confiscation, tight restrictions on communication, and confinement in the household. While Oman prohibits employers from confiscating workers passports, it is not clear whether the law actually allows for criminal sanctions or whether any have ever been imposed.
Under contractual terms mandated by Omans government, employers are required to provide domestic workers with adequate room and board; these provisions are particularly important given that many domestic workers are not free to leave their employers homes, are not paid in full and on time, and, in many cases, do not earn enough to provide their own food and lodging. Mamata B., a Bangladeshi domestic worker, said her employer punished her after she fled to the police for help but they returned her. My madam beat me up and locked me in the room for eight days with only dates to eat and water to drink, she said.
Some domestic workers described inappropriate and inadequate sleeping conditions in their employers homes, including in kitchens, living rooms, or with small children. Anisa M., a Tanzanian domestic worker, said, I sleep in the kitchen. I do not have a room.
