Study explores ‘isolation’ of domestic workers

AMMAN — The lack of a comprehensive governance framework for migrant domestic workers in the region results in an asymmetric working relationship between them and their employers, according to an International Labour Organisation (ILO) study released on Sunday.

The study, titled “Cooperating out of isolation: the case of migrant domestic workers in Lebanon, Jordan and Kuwait”, indicated that despite recent attempts and progress of some regional countries to better understand the principles and values of the 2011 ILO Domestic Workers Convention, the relationship between domestic workers and their employers is still unregulated, thus leaving domestic workers in isolation.

Domestic workers in the Middle East are more isolated than those in the rest of the world, Phillip Fishman, programme manager of ILO’s Better Work Jordan, said at a workshop in Amman on the case of migrant domestic workers in Lebanon, Jordan and Kuwait. 

Noting that domestic workers are excluded from most labour laws in the region, Fishman attributed the asymmetric working relationship between them and their employers to the prevailing sponsorship, or kafala, system.

This relationship, determined by the kafala system, is characterised by an uneven distribution of power, whereby the workers have limited or no space for negotiation and their voices are not represented, according to the ILO study.

In general, the kafala model remains the main system in the region to contract migrant domestic workers, giving employers full legal and economic responsibility for domestic workers throughout their stay in the receiving country, more specifically inside the household of the employer, the study indicated.

“As a result, many ‘live-in’ domestic workers face isolation and limited freedom of movement, which hinders their possibility for collective organisation.”

Moreover, the fact that most labour laws in the region exclude domestic workers increases the risk of vulnerability and exploitation of the worker, according to the ILO study, which also indicated that domestic workers in the majority of Arab countries are not allowed to establish a trade union, although they may have the right to join a national workers’ union such as in Lebanon, Jordan and Kuwait.

“Despite the existence of informal networks and community-based initiatives, at times led by religious institutions, the level of formal organisation of migrant domestic workers continues to be limited. Hence their voices remain largely unheard.”

During the workshop, representatives from governments, workers’ organisations, informal domestic workers networks and national and international experts on worker self-organisation discussed potential organising services for domestic workers, including cooperatives in Arab countries.