JEDDAH: There is a move on the part of Saudi authorities to stop housemaids coming from certain countries. “We are serious in imposing a ban on the import of housemaids from Sri Lanka, Nepal, Cambodia and Vietnam,” said Ali Al-Quraishi, vice president of the local Labor Recruitment Committee. “The main reason for considering such a [...]

CARAM Asia Critique of the 3rd Global Forum on Migration and Development Athens, Greece 4th-5th November 2009 As governments from around the world convene for the third annual Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) many in the civil society sector continue to question the credibility of the forum as a valid platform capable of [...]

An Indonesian maid who was found beaten in the home of her Malaysian employers died on Monday, after being hospitalized nearly a week, officials said. Her employers, a Malaysian couple from Klang Selangor, about 50 kilometers from Kuala Lumpur, were arrested and face murder charges, according to an Indonesian Embassy official. The victim, Muntik Binti [...]

CHENNAI: More than 400 domestic workers from 25 areas across the city stayed away from work protesting against the government’s inaction in protecting their rights and failure to fix minimum wages. Responding to the one-day strike call given by Penn Thozhilalargal Sangam (PTS), an independent women workers’ union, its activists assembled at Gandhi Statue in [...]

As today marks a day where the international community seeks to recognise the contribution of foreign domestic workers (FDW), CARAM Asia and its members call on governments throughout the world to immediately amend national employment laws to recognise domestic work as work.  The International Solidarity Day with Foreign Migrant Domestic Workers was first launched in [...]

How long will the country tolerate the prolonged slavery of housemaids? The government insists it is difficult and potentially counterproductive to regulate the domestic sub-sector and the House of Representatives has not made the issue a top priority. However, the government and civil society groups have cried out against the inhumane treatment of Indonesian migrant [...]

Siti Hajar’s face — scarred with red blisters and scabs — told of the horror. For the past three years, the 33-year-old Indonesian domestic worker from West Java says she was abused by her Malaysian employer, being beaten, doused with boiling water and caned. In June, the ongoing violence finally landed her in a Kuala [...]

To remind you: The answers to the ILO’s questionnaire have to be sent in by the 30st of August. See for more information: http://en.domesticworkerrights.org/?q=node/56 The ILO is ‘tripartite’ which means that employers, governments and workers are represented in its structure. The questionnaire connected to this draft ‘Law and Practice Report’, will be answered by the [...]

With red blisters and scabs on her face and upper body, Siti Hajar fled her employer’s house and sought shelter at the Indonesian embassy in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, in June. Hajar told the media her female employer had hit her and poured boiling water over her and repeatedly beaten her with a cane [...]

25-27 August 2009 Jakarta, Indonesia Organised by Jala PRT and CAW More than 50 domestic workers groups and supporters from 10 districts gathered in Bogor, Indonesia to participate in a national training on advocacy organized by JALA PRT (National Network of Domestic Workers Advocacy) and supported by CAW. Representatives of the Asian Domestic Workers Network [...]