By Olivia Alabaster
BEIRUT: A draft proposal to replace
the sponsorship system for migrant domestic workers in Lebanon was introduced
by the rights organization KAFA (enough) Violence & Exploitation Friday,
with outgoing Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas giving his full support to the
initiative.The comprehensive policy paper outlines the main problems arising
from the sponsorship, or “kafala,” system, and suggests recommendations for how
the entire process, introduced in the 1946 legal code, could be revamped.
Removal of the sponsorship system –
which ties a migrant domestic worker’s residence permit to one specific
employer or sponsor in Lebanon – would allow for increased rights for the
country’s some 200,000 migrant domestic workers, as well as a better situation
for their employers, the report, funded by the Norwegian Embassy, argues.
Speaking at the launch, KAFA
director Zoya Rouhana said that the current system is “leading to huge
violations of domestic worker’s rights.” She also thanked Nahhas, who resigned
from his post this week after political pressure, for his support thus far.
“For the first time, the [Labor]
Ministry had begun taking our advice. We had been looking forward to working
with Nahhas,” Rouhana said.
Kathleen Hamill, a lawyer and author
of the report, introduced the key findings. The sponsorship system denies
worker’s freedom of association, freedom of movement and a lack of legal
redress.
Questioning whether the sponsorship
system was a form of legalized slavery, Hamill said it renders migrant domestic
workers vulnerable to exploitation, including long working hours and detention
within the house.
Ultimately, she added, this forces
many to choose between running away, then facing detention, repatriation and
possibly blacklisting or suicide. One migrant domestic worker dies each week in
Lebanon, according to Human Rights Watch.
Reforming the system is only a small
part of a wider process, she said, but it might go some way in “helping to
address the pervasive racism in society,” Hamill said.
The recruitment process itself must
be entirely overhauled, the report recommends, including greater regulation of
the country’s some 400 recruitment agencies, many of which are unlicensed.
Eventually, an online database could replace private agencies entirely, the
report adds.
To increase labor mobility of
workers, employment-based visas should be introduced, which would allow workers
the right to resign with one-month notice. A grace period would “reduce the
power each sponsor has to summarily terminate an employee’s work contract,” the
report says, avoiding the possibility of “a migrant domestic worker literally
in her pajamas at the airport because she served the chicken on the wrong side
of the table,” Hamill said.
The introduction of easy exit
procedures would enable workers to come to the authorities at any point without
fear of detention, the report adds.
The report suggests that the
National Employment Office, under the Labor Ministry, takes full responsibility
for the entry, residence, employment, transfer and departure of migrant
domestic workers.
It is also important to update the
working relationship, the report adds, so that workers are not “beholden to
their employers.” Workers should be allowed to leave the house and be granted
holiday leave.
Access to social protection and
legal recourse must also be ensured, the report adds, so workers no longer have
to resort to “reaching out across balconies for help,” Hamill added.
Nahhas – who last month said that
domestic workers should be included in the Labor Law – confirmed his support
for the policy draft Friday, saying it would help redress the imbalance between
employers and employees. The “kafala” system, he said, was developed in a
different era.
While in office, Nahhas had written
amendments to the Labor Law, but they were not adopted for “bureaucratic
reasons,” he said. The amendments would have included domestic workers, whether
Lebanese or foreigners, within the Labor Law.
The outgoing minister also recommended a
contract for employers and their workers whereby salaries are paid into a bank
account monthly. An initial probation period would also allow either employee
or employer to withdraw from the contract.http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2012/Feb-25/164572-kafa-proposes-draft-law-to-replace-kafala-system-for-migrant-workers.ashx#axzz1nNx9Rqb0
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