International Human Rights Issues - Essay Example

Human Rights Project According to a statistics, United Arab Emirates is among the world’s richest economies with a 2.5% growth rate and $37 GDP per capita. The economic growth can be attributed to supply of cheap labor mainly by workers seeking to escape poverty from other countries. Literature indicates that 90% of the labor force is majorly migrant workers from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Asia, Europe and Africa. However, research indicates that despite the image of abundance and wealth in the United Arab Emirates, the riches do not trickle down to expatriates and the better part of the country’s population. Research by international human rights organizations have described the worst forms of labor abuse and dehumanization among low income earners like domestic and construction workers in the United Arab Emirates. For example, the worst form of exploitation is the “Kafala” sponsorship program that gives sponsors and employers authority to determine the immigrants’ legal residence (Chalcraft, 2011). According to Sonnez, Apostolopoulos, Tran & Rentrope (2011), employers are given the authority to control migrant workers pay, living conditions, and ability to renew or terminate their contracts without regard to the country’s labor laws. Another form of human right violation is debt bondage and confiscation of passports because migrant workers have been charged high recruitment fees by their home agencies. Violation comes in because the migrants are promised high salaries but on arrival they wages are too low ranging from $175 to $220 per month. A report by Human Rights Watch (2012) indicates that construction workers live in inhumane conditions, with eight to ten laborers sharing a room because of poverty and debt. For instance, they were expected to work for more than 12 hours per day with very few breaks even under extreme heat of the day (Exploited Workers Building Island of Happiness, 2009). The poor wages and increased cases of abuse thrive because of the political environment which has continuously ignored the need for establishing labor unions and enforcing legal action on abusers. Lack of labor unions limits migrants’ choices, rights to expression, ability to seek justice and freedom to move from one employer to another equating the situation to modern day slavery. These limitations have led to increased cases of suicides among immigrants who find themselves in fixed inhumane environment. A 2009 police report indicated that 113 migrants committed suicide with the most victims coming from domestic and construction workers bracket (ITUC report, 2011). Moreover, despite efforts for contractual agreements, employers violate the contract terms and refuse to pay or go for months without paying migrants wages. Contracts are terminated without notice and in some cases employees are deported without accord to the legal process. For example, Saudi Arabia workers were deported to their country after moving into the country to seek refuge following the destruction of their homes by a typhoon. United Arab Emirates is a signatory to the ILO’S convention to abolish forced labor and therefore measures have been initiated to eradicate it. In addition, it is required by the international community to uphold the United Nations millennium development goals like ensure poverty eradication and gender equality (UAE Ministry of Labor, 2007). Reports indicate that the government has been forced to initiate labor reforms because of external pressure from other governments and human right organizations. To maintain its position and relations with the international community, the government has promised to rectify its labor laws through ensuring better working conditions, ensuring compensation, accommodation and holidays for migrants. A human Rights Watch follow up report 2012 indicated that employees had improved in timely payment of their workers’ wages and health insurance schemes had been established to protect the migrants’ welfare at work. Moreover, in 2006, the government allowed foreign workers to form unions that can protect them from the alleged mistreatment by employers. The United Arab Emirates government accepted to consider the enactment of a domestic workers law in 2012 with reforms like weekly day off and legal action on people who encourage workers to leave their employers. In addition, the international labor organization requires its signatories to accord domestic workers equal rights as other workers. For enforcement, labor inspection and a platform for easy access to justice should be initiated and the right channels for conveying of information as well as rescuing of workers from abusive employers should be put in place In conclusion, domestic and construction workers are subjected to debt bondage, low wages and sexual abuse by their employers. Moreover, their working environment, home bondage, puts their lives at risk because the abuse that happens within the home confines is not documented and the level of abuse deteriorates to the level of murder in some cases. Employees go for months without payment, are denied weekly rest days and are subjected to both verbal and physical abuse and are prohibited from leaving the employers premises. United Arab Emirates should adopt and implement employment contract that should be enforced to all employers. The contract can protect vulnerable groups from abuse and fill in the legal void that gives employers an opportunity to exploit them. Project 2 Reservations are the exceptions made by different states for not implementing international treaties fully under the justification of culture, religion and the effect of certain sanctions on the country’s business environment. Reservations give governments a leeway to undermine human rights and other essential rules according to the international environment. For example, Bangladeshi’s reservation to the implementation of equal rights during the women rights convection was that implementation was to be done in accordance with the Sharia law. Another example is Yemen’s reservation on racial discrimination treaty whereby it required excluding political, marriage inheritance and rights to freedom thereby rendering the treaty ineffective for the intended purpose. International organizations such as the United Nations argue that Arab states among other Islamic countries bring out the issue of human rights with a dilemma. On one side, they do not accept the universal need to uphold human rights and equality citing culture and religion as defense and on the other hand, they want to bring out Islam as a religion that respects human rights through signing United Nations convention (Ivan, 2006). Religious principles have continually being used as the medium for excusing different forms of abuse which in real sense are more affiliated to local customs and practices. Hiding behind religion exonerates offenders from being held accountable or justification on either legal or moral basis. Islamic law has continuously being dragged into human rights debates to lower standards because it requires tolerance and respect for others. In the Arab countries, non-Muslims are mistreated and maimed because they are not considered as human beings. According to the World Report (2012), the international community has formed ties with nations that still uphold oppressive practices and hamper the worst forms of human abuse hence making them reluctant to change. The world report suggests that the international community should prioritize the need for the Arab states to uphold protection of human rights and foreign workers so that a democratic transition can be achieved. The report suggests that support for peaceful protests is the only way to counter the regions abuses, autocrats and achievement of basic rights. Insistence on acknowledgement and respect for human rights can help in the championing and raising violations indicate intolerance and press for the need to change (Gulf Center for Human Rights, 2013). Most international treaties aim at protecting minority groups and women because they are vulnerable to abuse and are not included in the country’s frameworks of legal protection like labor laws. The treaty targets at protecting migrants working as nannies, caregivers and housekeepers and accord them legal protection. According to the Human Rights Watch (2013), Arab countries are excluded from treaties requiring sovereign countries to alleviate discrimination and abuse. This is because of fear of political upheavals and terrorism associated with violation of the Islamic law. The international community argues that Arab countries should be pushed to recognize the rights and freedoms of people living in their vicinity. Autocrats leading Islamic countries interpret Islamic laws to fit their description of what is considered as just so as to perpetuate their abuse and insubordination behind the mask of religion. Islamic governments ascribe to restrictive views and ignore the need to fight against repression and violation of human rights (Muftah Editors, 2012). In conclusion, Islamic communities are signatories of international human rights but religious and cultural connotations are applied to give exceptions for subordination and discrimination (Whitaker, 2009). For instance, women are required to be submissive and secondary status and can never be equals to their male counterparts. Arab countries refer to the need for gender equality as a western imposition and women are relegated to their subservient roles and heightened forms of domestic oppression. Discrimination in the Arab countries is entrenched in Islamic law and this makes change and adoption of new parties difficult. The Arab countries should realize that women have attained equality as their male counter parts and therefore they cannot continue using religion and culture to deny their women their basic rights. References Chalcraft, J., (2011). Migration politics in the Arabian Peninsula. In: Held, David and Ulrichsen, Kristian, (eds.). The transformation of the Gulf: politics, economics and the global order. Routledge, Abingdon, UK. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices Report, (2010). http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/nea/154475.htm Gulf Center for Human Rights, (2013). Trial Observation Report: Case Number 17/2013 “The United Arab Emirates 94” / March 2013 http://gc4hr.org/report/view/13, HRW: UAE: Exploited Workers Building ‘Island of Happiness’ (2009). Human Rights Watch, New York, Available at: http://www.hrw.org/news/2009/05/18/uae-exploited-workers-building-island-happiness HRW: World Report (2012). United Arab Emirates. Human Rights Watch, New York, Available at: http://www.hrw.org/world-report-2012/world-report-2012-united-arab-emirates Human Rights Report, (2010): United Arab Emirates Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Human Rights Watch, (2013). Proposed Domestic Workers Contract Falls Short: Gulf Countries Should Improve Laws, Ratify Treaty November 17, 2013 Human Rights Watch, (2013). World Report, United States of America. Print ITUC report: ‘Hidden faces of the Gulf miracle’ (2011), International Trade Union Congress, Brussels, Belgium. Available at: http://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pdf/VS_QatarEN_final.pdf Ivan W., (2006). Dubai Economic Boom Comes at a Price for Workers", NPR Muftah Editors, (2012) Human Rights in the Arab World: The Importance of Follow-Through, http://muftah.org/human-rights-in-the-arab-world-the-importance-of-follow-through/ Sonmez, S., Apostolopoulos, Y., Tran, D., and Rentrope, S., (2011). Human rights and health disparities for migrant workers in the UAE. Health and Human Rights: An International Journal, UAE Ministry of Labor, (2007). "The Protection of the Rights of Workers in the United Arab Emirates Annual Report, http://www.uae-us.org/assets Whitaker B., (2009). Human rights in the Arab countries, http://www.albab.com/arab/human.htm World Report, (2012). Strengthen Support for ‘Arab Spring’, Governments Should Support Rights, Not Abusive Allies, http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/01/22/world-report-2012-strengthen-support-arab-spring Read More

 

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