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Shrinking spaces for labour rights and the ongoing fallout of Covid-19

The effects of the pandemic continue to reverberate across Gulf economies, with migrant workers still on the frontlines. Our latest reporting highlights the ongoing vulnerabilities of overlooked communities and assess recent policies from throughout the region.
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Our latest video collaboration with Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW) explores migrant women's lived experiences with justice mechanisms in the Middle East.
Reports
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Qatar reforms: Greater job mobility and higher minimum wage ([link removed])

Qatar’s historic labour reforms provide a glimmer of hope, but the journey ahead remains long and strenuous.

قراءة باللغة العربية ([link removed])

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The privilege of a normal life ([link removed])

Why should intimacy, and even family life, be reserved for the privileged nationalities and financially affluent? Read one worker’s reflection on the matter.

قراءة باللغة العربية ([link removed])

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The truth that Saudi’s statistics hide ([link removed])

A deeper look at the statistics and data offered by Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Health reveals a curiosity.

قراءة باللغة العربية ([link removed])

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Born into uncertainty: Pandemic aggravates the woes of migrant mothers and their newborns ([link removed])

Gulf countries provide no integrated social welfare system for migrants, further endangering the health of mothers and their children amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

قراءة باللغة العربية ([link removed])

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From Nigeria to UAE, via many deceptions ([link removed])

Follow one worker’s story as he recounts his experiences working in UAE and undergoing the effects of the pandemic.

([link removed]) قراءة باللغة العربية ([link removed])

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Driven to despair: Male domestic workers in Saudi ([link removed])

Since lockdowns were implemented in late March across several parts of Saudi Arabia, job security and accommodation have become uncertain for male domestic workers who make up more than 55% of the total domestic worker population.

قراءة باللغة العربية ([link removed])

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Bahrain’s Amnesty: In name and little else ([link removed])

Bahrain’s initiative, intended to help workers, has been limited at best and, for some cases, has created more vulnerabilities for workers.

قراءة باللغة العربية ([link removed])

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Getting Lucky: Client, not employer, decides how you live ([link removed])

Follow one worker’s journey as he recounts living through the indecent workers’ accommodations.

قراءة باللغة العربية ([link removed])

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Migrant students left in the lurch in Dubai’s ‘free zone’ education ([link removed])

The promise of a work permit and an abundance of part-time job opportunities lure students to pay steep fees at the many universities and institutions in Dubai’s free zones.

قراءة باللغة العربية ([link removed])

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Restaurant workers driven to starvation in Saudi ([link removed])

As restaurants and shops reopen across Saudi Arabia, migrant workers continue to bear the brunt of the pandemic’s economic fallout.

قراءة باللغة العربية ([link removed])

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Breaking the wall of resistance: Why mere reforms are not enough ([link removed])

Migrant Rights’ Vani Saraswathi analyzes why lower income workers are treated with disregard in some of the richest countries in the world.

قراءة باللغة العربية ([link removed])

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New reforms and ongoing challenges in Saudi’s labour justice system ([link removed])

Saudi Arabia’s reforms to its complaints system has yet to end obstacles to justice where many workers have little access to support and lack clear information on procedures and rights.

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Saudi expatriate exodus is changing the social fabric of cities ([link removed])

Saudi Arabia’s diverse neighborhoods slowly dissipate with many residential units falling vacant and businesses continuing to shutter as expatriates move back home permanently in large numbers.

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HRW Qatar report highlights ongoing wage theft and lack of protections, despite promises ([link removed])

In a report on wage theft in Qatar, Human Rights Watch highlights the scale of violations and the ineffectiveness of the Wage Protection System (WPS).

([link removed]) قراءة باللغة العربية ([link removed])

Latest News
Kuwait to stop issuing work permits for expats aged over 60 without a degree ([link removed]'s%20Public%20Authority%20for%20Manpower,high%20school%20diplomas%20or%20below.)

Kuwait’s Public Authority for Manpower (PAM) issued administrative decision no. 520 that will prohibit issuing or renewing work permits for migrants aged 60 and above who hold high school diplomas or below.

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Platform for local recruitment launched in Qatar ([link removed])

A platform to facilitate local recruitment has been launched by the Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry. This platform will allow businesses to register their redundant staff and to recruit for job openings they may have.

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Kuwait bans transferring children’s residency permits to their migrant mothers ([link removed])

According to a recent Al Qabas report, Kuwait’s General Directorate of Residency will no longer allow for children’s residency permits to be transferred to their mother’s sponsorship.

Bahrain to resume issuing work permits for workers who are abroad ([link removed]'s%20Labour%20Market%20Regulatory%20Authority,by%20the%20COVID%2D19%20pandemic.)

Bahrain’s Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) announced that it will resume issuing work permits for workers who are abroad from 9 August 2020 onwards.


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UAE’s concerning advisory ([link removed])

UAE has ‘urged’ employers “to ask their maids and household helpers to avoid meeting friends outside of the home this Eid.” However, for the employers, visits are “limited to first and second-degree relatives.”

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Saudi Arabia resumes WPS and begins its 16th phase ([link removed]'s%20Ministry%20of%20Human,starting%20from%201%20August%202020)

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (MHRSD) announced that it has started implementing the 16th phase of the Wage Protection System (WPS). Businesses with 5 to 10 workers are now obligated to register with WPS.

قراءة باللغة العربية ([link removed])


Migrant-Rights.org ([link removed]) is closely monitoring the situation and updating our coverage regularly.

Follow us on Twitter @MigrantRights ([link removed]) for our latest news and commentary.

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