4th August 1996

Abroad, astray

Towards Change

by Dharshini Seneviratene

With little state support and excessive vulnerability at the hands of foreign employers, unskilled and semi-skilled migrant women workers face endless hardship abroad.

In 1995 alone, there were 106 reports of female deaths and 2268 reports of harassment of women recorded at the Foreign Ministry. How should the state and other bodies begin addressing these issues, and how can they win in a situation where the welfare of workers seems to be

ever determined by market forces?

According to the Chairman of the Foreign Employment Bureau (FEB), Colonel Nissanka Wijeratne, referring to the case of women domestic workers in Kuwait, "The real problem is that 80% of the women in Kuwait must sleep with their masters. They are merely regarded as sex salves.". There is little possibility that these women will speak out about violations against them at the embassy or elsewhere because of the fear that their families will break up, and because they will loose a relatively well-paying job. And even with the low level of complaints made to authorities both here and abroad, last year alone recorded 106 reports of female deaths, and 2268 reports of harassment of women migrant workers according to the list of complaints received by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

It is ironic in this context that DGM Welfare and Training at the Foreign Employment Bureau, Mr. R Wijegunewardena, should speak of cases of sexual harassment of domestic workers as "negligible" in labour importing countries. (Even if 2268 women may seem "negligible" considering the total of 430,000 women migrant workers.) And according to Col. Wijeratne, referring to the case of the Kuwaiti housemaids, "there's nothing we can do about it.". Their legal status is that of private property. The only thing we can do is minimize the problems with formal contracts." Why this apathy?

The recent past has borne witness to the vulnerability of the unskilled/semi-skilled woman worker abroad in no uncertain terms.

Uprooted, isolated and defenceless, these women have little support when in trouble. Women stranded at airports, women dying of mysterious causes, and cases of rape that are never proved "beyond" reasonable doubt" are constantly being reported in the newspapers.

In spite of the negative figures, more and more women are opting to leave their homes for work abroad. In 1995, 84% of the migrant labour force was female as compared to a mere 12% in 1978 at the beginning of the exodus. With their status of easily replaceable unskilled workers with little contractual obligations on the part of the employer, (or obligations that heavily favour the employer), these women are left with little support in alien soil.

The apathy of bodies like the FEB in a context where there is obvious evidence of blatant violations is largely due perhaps to the helplessness of such institutions in a situation where capitalist forces are allowed to rule the fate of the domestic workers (and everything else). Col. Wijeratne's own attempt to increase the minimum salary of the domestic worker abroad to USD 125 (Rs 6875) - currently it is USD 100 - met with strong opposition from the Association of Licences for Employment Agencies (ALFEA) because their members were not consulted in the matter, their main worry being that they will lose the current stronghold on the market for man power exportation. In a recent address to FEB authorities, according to newspaper reports, even the President is supposed to have backed the ALFEA, stating that they should consult the private sector and take decisions that "will not do damage to the state.".

All this because of a request for a slight raise in minimum wages that would be a drop in the ocean considering Middle East income levels. It is certainly a master-slave relationship where the master is given all the leeway even by the decision makers at this end. The fact that no bi-lateral agreements have been possible with labour importing countries is again due to these same capitalist trends that privilege market forces over human rights.

In comparison to the Sri Lankan situation, the Philipina domestic worker has to receive a minimum of USD 200 thanks to far more comprehensive lobbying for the workers by the government. (This, according to the FEB, is because they "speak English, are better trained and are fair skinned." But none are valid excuses.)

True to form, the "biggest problems" as perceived by the FEB when considering housemaids abroad are the lack of training, ignorance of the social background in the foreign country and homesickness. The onus, then, is on the woman to make things work. The employer-employee relationship is hardly considered, including the apparently pervasive sexual subjugation of the women.

With the FEB hands tied on many issues concerning the welfare of (registered) domestic workers, no cooperation is received from the government for training and follow-up activity in the host countries. The FEB operates on fees levied by the migrant workers and does not receive any budgetary allocation from the government. According to Colonel Wijeratne, "The Bureau has not got a red cent from the government. The government is trying to grab even the surpluses that we have. They were trying to charge levies when I was trying to use the money for the welfare of the workers. In Jordan, we had to pay the rent of the building for the first year. In reality, the money should have come from the state. It is their obligation to look after the people.".

The mechanisms in operation abroad for the welfare of the workers are further disjointed. The labour officers posted at embassies to address problems related to workers are from the Labour Ministry which is not connected in any other way to the welfare of the workers. As Col. Wijeratne points out, if there is to be a cohesive plan and follow-up programme on migrant workers including women, the labour officers should ideally be from the FEB which receives and handles most of the complaints of workers.

Meanwhile, the state of the Sri Lankan embassies in labour exporting countries remains pitiful. They have scarcely got resources to meet the needs of runaway housemaids who, in the Kuwaiti embassy alone, amounts to around 100-200 at any given time. Meals are sometimes provided to these stranded housemaids by the Sri Lankan Associations abroad, and some of these women themselves are trained to help the others out. But no comprehensive network exists for the redress of these women.

The domestic workers and the embassies themselves have little influence over the mechanisms of the labour-exporting countries because of their obvious monetary power and blatant institutional favouritism in the face of cases filed with the police. So far, according to the FEB, not a single rape case has had a fair trial in the Middle East and only voluntary mediation has worked in settling employer-employee conflicts even minimally. Employers, literally, have got away with murder.

The good side of the coin is that a new contractual condition to be implemented soon (based on the Philippine system), will strengthen the hands of the embassies abroad in addressing the problems of domestic workers. Among the conditions of this new contract will be the ability of the embassy to make legal representation on behalf of the workers, and a condition that 80% of the salary be paid to a bank so that payment of salaries can be followed up by the FEB. This contract, to be in operation soon, will also be the only contract that domestic workers will have to sign. Presently, employees sign one contract in Sri Lanka, and another, entirely one-sided contract in Arabic, at the other end. Furthermore, the training certificate has already been made compulsory and schemes like the Suraksha Insurance Scheme are an added boost.

But to address the problem of the migrant women workers in a comprehensive manner, attitudes towards women workers have to change in general. More attention is needed to be given to them as a group that suffers not only in their status as unskilled/semi-skilled workers, but also in their status as women. Research trends on women's migration abroad is itself an indication of the marginalisation of the woman herself; most research done so far have focused on the effects of the disappearance of the woman on the household, on the husband's alcoholism, and the children's welfare, at the expense of a focus on the woman's own lot abroad. Research oriented at obtaining a clearer perspective of the conditions of Sri Lankan migrant women workers will lend indispensable support to the formulation of welfare programmes and follow-up activity for migrant workers aborad, specially women, and is urgently needed right now.

If, after all, the forces of capitalism and money power are actually too overwhelming for us to be able to take a stand on the rights of the migrant labourer, perhaps we should follow in the footsteps of India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan in banning unskilled/semi-skilled women migrants working abroad. The Chairman of the FEB is strongly in favour of such a step, but the enormous amount of foreign exchange of about Rs. 23000 million received from them (what else) makes it a costly decision.

However, the women's own statements that they would not be leaving the country for work abroad if they could earn around Rs 3500-4000 in Sri Lanka also should be considered. For in the face of poverty, any form of financial redress becomes a godsend.

Meanwhile, the Ministries of Labour, Foreign Affairs and women's Affairs should join hands in addressing the welfare issues of the migrant domestic workers so that their own hands and the hands of the workers are strengthened to fight violations and the money power of middle eastern and other states. It is also imperative that a collective bargaining power is built up with the cooperation of other labour exporting countries so that minimum wages are increased and follow-up activity on domestic workers is made easier. More gender-sensitivity in organizations such as the FEB will also help.

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