The number of distressed domestic workers calling for help has increased in the first two weeks of Ramadan compared to previous months, the Consulate General of India – Dubai (CGI-Dubai) confirmed to Khaleej Times.
“We have received distressed calls from many Indian women working in the UAE as house help,” noted the Press Wing of CGI-Dubai, adding: “The number of such distress cases is higher in Ramadan than in previous months. The consulate has been facilitating each request for the safe return of these ladies to their respective families.”
The Indian Consulate did not provide specific numbers, but according to social workers, there have been more than 20 distress calls in the first two weeks of Ramadan, whereas the average was only between 5 and 7 calls in other months.
Some household workers who ran away from their employers cited being overworked and having to endure longer work hours, while others said they experienced varying forms of maltreatment, such as verbal and physical abuse.
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Marked decline
However, two other labour-sending countries – The Philippines and Indonesia – noted a marked decline in the number of runaway maids this year, unlike previous years. Close coordination with the UAE Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (Mohre) has contributed to this positive development, noted the Philippine Labour Attaché.
Philippine labour attaché John Rio Aceveda Bautista also said, “It is still early to tell if there is a significant increase in complaints from (Filipino) domestic workers being overworked during Ramadan because we are only midway in the holy month.”
“However, if we use as an indicator the number of wards at our shelter (halfway house) who ran away from their employers, we currently have below 15, and this will decline further as four of them will be repatriated,” he added.
The situation described by Bautista at the Philippine Migrant Workers Office (MWO) in Dubai (formerly Philippine Overseas Labour Office or Polo) is very different from the condition more than five years ago when more than 110 Filipina maids were sheltered at one time during Ramadan at the centre – almost double than the average of 60 wards in other months.
“Most of the women were just new in Dubai – almost all came as visitors and looked for employment here. The majority just arrived one month ago; some stayed with their employers for about five days and ran away,” former Philippine labour attaché Felicitas Bay, who is now assistant secretary at the Philippine Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), previously told Khaleej Times.
Significant improvement
Working conditions have significantly improved since then, underscored Bautista, who noted: “The memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Philippines and UAE on the resumption of deployment of domestic workers and the continued close coordination with Mohre by the Philippine Consulate and MWO resulted positively to the decline of wards in our shelter and run away cases during Ramadan.”
Bautista also praised the recent order by the UAE government to cover all private sector employees and domestic workers under the mandatory health insurance scheme. Beginning next year, employers will be required to pay for the health coverage of their registered workers while issuing or renewing their residency permits.
“This is a very welcome development towards securing the welfare and best possible term of conditions for the workers, especially since it will cover all workers irrespective of their emirates. This also reiterates the provision on our Standard Employment Contract requiring employers to provide free medical and dental insurance for domestic workers.
“We support the UAE government’s effort to strengthen the social security coverage of workers, including our overseas Filipino workers (OFWs),” he added.
Continue to monitor
For his part, Indonesian Consul General K. Candra Negara said they have registered only one case of distressed Indonesian domestic workers in the first 15 days of Ramadan. “But it is also too early to tell if cases will increase or decrease this year,” he added, noting they will continue to monitor the situation.
Negara noted Indonesia recently lifted the ban on deploying new household service workers after the UAE passed a landmark law “protecting domestic workers from abuse and unfair labour practices.”
What more can be done?
Labour and migration expert Froilan Malit Jr., a visiting fellow at the Department of Political Science, American University in Dubai, noted: “During Ramadan, the labour dynamics in the domestic work sector in the UAE present numerous social, industry and policy challenges.”
He noted the vulnerable domestic workers are particularly those who are undocumented or doing freelancing. “They encounter more arduous circumstances as a result of their not having legal status, hence restricting their ability to avail themselves of labour protection in the UAE.”
“Particularly vulnerable are the newly-arrived or hired domestic workers from sending countries like the Philippines, Kenya, Uganda, Myanmar, Indonesia, Ethiopia, India and more,” he added.
Malit, who is also a senior research associate at Gulf Labour Markets and Migration, said Tadbeer, which is responsible for bringing housemaids, nannies and other domestic workers from abroad, “should effectively promote dialogues between domestic workers and employers to educate both parties about their contractual rights and responsibilities and ensure compliance with the UAE domestic work standards outlined in their employment contracts.”