{"id":101630,"date":"2013-08-22T00:19:55","date_gmt":"2013-08-21T18:49:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=101630"},"modified":"2021-05-07T17:37:05","modified_gmt":"2021-05-07T12:07:05","slug":"sri-lankan-housemaids-law-of-kafala-modern-day-slavery-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/sri-lankan-housemaids-law-of-kafala-modern-day-slavery-system\/","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lankan Housemaids: Law of Kafala \u2013 Modern-Day Slavery System"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Shamen Kalansuriya<\/a><\/span> –<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Shamen Kalansuriya<\/p><\/div>\n

When we look in to the TV, radio and news paper advertisements published by the housemaid recruiting agencies they are offering precious opportunities to housemaids. They are even providing the visa and air tickets. But unfortunately we are not aware about the poisons snake call Kafala, wrapped in that gift pack. Poor people think this as a great chance to go abroad and earn but\u00a0what\u00a0they don\u2019t know\u00a0is\u00a0the price for this gift.<\/p>\n

Kafala (Sponsorship system)\u00a0 : \u201cUnder the kafala (literally, \u2018guaranteeing and taking care of\u2019 in Arabic) programme in the Arab States, an employer is required to sponsor a migrant worker\u2019s visa and assume full economic and legal responsibility for him\/her during the contracted period. Legally, the sponsored migrant worker\u00a0can work only for his\/her sponsor. In the case of a\u00a0domestic worker, the programme makes it\u00a0mandatory for her to remain in her employer\/sponsors\u2019 home. While the kafala system was created to provide the government with a way to regulate foreign labour flows, critics charge that the\u00a0\u00a0system can lead to the exploitation of migrant workers\u00a0in general,\u00a0and women domestic workers in particular.\u201d[1]<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Housemaids at Airport<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThe dependence created by the sponsorship system has the consequence that many domestic workers who suffer abuse do not make complaints against their employers. There have been cases of imprisonment of victim of abuse who had left their sponsor\u2019s home in order to file a complaint [2]<\/p>\n

In 2009 Bahrain banded this Kafala system and now they allow their employees to switch from one employer to another without the current employees concern.\u00a0[2]<\/p>\n

When we talk about the labour laws in Gulf countries, Jordan is the first and only Gulf country which covers domestic workers by the country labour law. So in other gulf countries domestic workers\u00a0are not being\u00a0covered under labour law and they\u00a0don\u2019t have clear provisions about working hours or overtime payments.[3]<\/p>\n

These migrant workers are the\u00a0major source of income\u00a0to Sri Lanka.\u00a0Sri Lankans respect the war heroes so much but has forgotten that these migrant workers were the main source of foreign income for the war fought.\u00a0\u00a0During the war time they did a great service by funding for the war.\u00a0It was them who actually fought in the economic frontline. Even at present they are the people who fund the development projects. So as the society we have\u00a0a\u00a0great responsibility towards them. But\u00a0from this\u00a0responsibility part I don\u2019t\u00a0mean you people to\u00a0do\u00a0humorous things such as protesting against Kafala law or use this kafala law to\u00a0criticize\u00a0and\u00a0debate\u00a0with the Sri Lankan Muslims.\u00a0 We can work together as a nation and find a sustainable solution for this issue.<\/p>\n

And according to my point of view, media is the most responsible party of this issue. They can educate the normal society about these laws because they are the only people who can touch every layer\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0Sri Lankan\u00a0society.\u00a0But it is unfortunate that\u00a0only the businessmen use this ability to advertise. Media can show the impacts of these laws and help the society to avoid these bad impacts.<\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n

[1]\u00a0HIV Vulnerabilities of Migrant Women: from Asia to the Arab States Shifting from silence, stigma and shame to safe mobility with dignity, equity and justice, p.25\u00a0http:\/\/hdru.aprc.undp.org\/resource_centre\/pub_pdfs\/P1105.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

[2]\u00a0Bahrain scraps sponsorship system\u00a0http:\/\/www.migrant-rights.org\/2009\/05\/06\/bahrain-scraps-sponsorship-system\/<\/a><\/p>\n

[3]\u00a0Gulf Countries should Revise Domestic Worker Contracthttp:\/\/www.ituc-csi.org\/gulf-countries-should-revise?lang=en<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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