1 CHAPTER 1 International Labour Migration and Sri Lankan Female Domestic Workers Introduction Migrant Labour Has Been an Import

CHAPTER 1 International Labour Migration and Sri Lankan Female Domestic Workers Introduction Migrant labour has been an important factor in labour force growth in host countries. Labour migration in the nineteenth century was mainly temporary or circular. People migrated to regions such as the United States and Southeast Asia which were associated with industrialisation and production of raw materials. In Asia, migrant workers initially migrated under indentured labour conditions to the least populated areas mainly for agricultural and mining work. A large number permanently settled in the countries in Southeast Asia where they went for work. Contemporary migration patterns are different from these older migration flows in terms of the nature and composition. Current labour migration flows are characterised by temporary guest worker programmes/short-term contracts and are also gendered (Castles & Miller, 2003; Morokvasic, 1984; Zlotnik, 2003). The demand for guest workers comprises largely low-skilled workers category who take up 3-D jobs (dirty, dangerous and demeaning) that local populations normally refuse to engage in. West Asian countries, including Saudi Arabia, are classic examples of this pattern. These low-skilled jobs exist in West Asia in two main sectors: construction and domestic work. Large numbers of workers, mainly women from lower socio-economic backgrounds in developing countries, including Sri Lanka, make up the domestic labour force in West Asia and other countries. These women are often under- paid and/or unpaid, face systematic exploitation and are deprived of protections. Consequently, the protection of migrant workers’ rights has become a major concern of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the United Nations (UN) and these organisations have adopted several international conventions to safeguard migrant workers’ rights and to look after their wellbeing. Over time, governments in both labour origin and destination countries have developed governance structures and policy instruments to deal with the increasing numbers of men and women who migrate for work on a temporary basis. Some countries have ratified international conventions to protect migrant workers and have entered into memoranda of understanding with destination countries. Simultaneously, there have been attempts in labour sending countries to mainstream labour migration into national development planning. Nonetheless, reports of 1 labour abuses and denial of human rights in the destination countries have risen. Various migrant labour advocacy groups and human rights organisations continue to demand better conditions, rights and guarantees through labour laws, standards, protections and policy reforms for vulnerable migrant groups, especially female domestic workers. There are various research studies and policy reviews conducted by multilateral agencies on the topic of labour migration, especially of domestic workers. These studies reveal widespread abuse and irregularities in the process of labour migration from countries of origin to destination countries. Importantly, throughout the migration process the vulnerability of migrant domestic workers has been a matter of concern for many groups. These concerns range from charging exorbitant fees to physical and sexual abuse and even homicide of workers. The increase in malpractices, ill-treatment, exploitation and abuse of migrant domestic workers seriously bring into question the potency of the prevailing protective measures, policies and procedures of both the countries of labour origin and destination. While identifying some policy gaps, researchers, practitioners and various organisations stress the need for changes in policies and governance structures to protect migrant domestic workers’ rights and to ensure their wellbeing and safety, for example by changing gender-neutral policies to gender-sensitive ones for the reduction of inequalities. 1.1 Background to the study Asia is the largest source of temporary migrant workers worldwide, including large intra- regional flows (IOM, 2008). Labour migration in Asia has two important dimensions: the westward and eastward direction of labour movements and the feminisation of labour migration. First, the westward direction of labour flow is more prominent than the eastward flow. The westward flow is to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, which include Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The GCC is a hub for thousands of labour migrants from neighbouring Asian countries and the destination countries permit only temporary migrants, both skilled and unskilled, for jobs on fixed term contracts. Second, gender segregated employment niches in the GCC countries have promoted the feminisation of labour migration, resulting in the demand for low-skilled women domestic workers. 2 The cross border migration of Sri Lankan workers has been on the rise for the last four decades. The Sri Lankan Government regards overseas employment as a safety valve for the high level of unemployment in Sri Lanka and also as a solution to excessive trade deficits. The migrant workers’ remittances are seen as a vital source of development funds for the government. In 2009, the total value of remittances recorded as private transfers was Rs.302,801 million (approximately US$2,422 million), with West Asian countries contributing nearly 60 percent of the total amount (Central Bank of Sri Lanka, 2010). Inward remittances have become the largest income source in the country. In 2009, 22.68 percent of the total labour force, approximately 1.7 million Sri Lankans, were employed overseas (SLBFE, 2010). West Asian countries dominate the foreign employment market for Sri Lanka, accounting for more than 90 percent. In 2009, the main destinations for Sri Lankan workers were Saudi Arabia (31.5 %), Qatar (17.7 %), Kuwait (17 %), the United Arab Emirates (16 %) and Jordan (3.6 %). In 2009, 163, 935 people (65 percent of the total) migrated for unskilled jobs, including domestic work. The domestic workers’ share of total migration is about 90 percent, showing a high concentration. As Sri Lanka is a major labour exporting country in Asia, the Sri Lankan Government has taken several proactive measures to enhance this valuable market. It has introduced policies, procedures and regulatory measures to manage the Sri Lankan migrant workers overseas. These include the establishment of the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE), regulation of private recruitment agencies, expansion of foreign missions in major destination countries, introduction of pre-departure training courses, model employment contracts and mandatory registration with the SLBFE. However, migrant domestic workers continue to face many challenges including violations of employment contracts by employers and in some cases even loss of life. In 2009, the SLBFE received 12,061 complaints, of which 73 percent (8,811 complaints) were from domestic workers (SLBFE, 2010). One shocking example of abuse in recent years was the nail torture of a 49 year old Sri Lankan domestic worker in Saudi Arabia.1 1 Saudi Arabia: domestic worker brutalized (see http://www.hrw.org/news/2010/09/02/saudi-arabia- domestic-worker-brutalized) 3 Feminisation of labour migration2 and migrant domestic workers Decades ago, labour migration was considered a male dominated movement and women were associate migrants. Since the 1960s global migration rates for women have remained high both in terms of the total number of women migrants and their share of the world migration stock (Zlotnik, 2003, pp. 17-19). Women migrants outnumber their counterparts in developed regions which is estimated at 51.6 percent of all migrants in 2010 whereas the corresponding figure for the developing world estimated to be 44.6 percent (ILO, 2010b, p. 26). Moreover, since the mid 1980s, researchers (Campani, 1995; Heyzer & Wee, 1994; Hune, 1991) have shown that women workers predominate in migration streams compared to young, economically motivated males. The feminisation of migrant labour is concentrated in the service sector (Asis, 2004; Cheng, 1999) which includes unskilled and semi-skilled, so-called ‘feminine’ occupations (Bandarage, 1998; Giles & Arat-Koc, 1994). Domestic work is one of these niche areas. These migrant domestic workers are labelled as ‘housemaids’, ‘domestic helpers’, ‘household service workers’, ‘servants’, ‘nannies’, ‘housekeepers’, ‘cooks’ or ‘cleaners’. This employment trend has been classified as part of ‘global care chain’ or ‘globalising reproduction’ in different contexts. Care chains are comprised of households which transfer providing of caring tasks from one person to another on the basis of power axes such as gender, ethnicity, social class and place of origin (INSTRAW, 2007, p. 1). Migration of women is part of a global care chain link between people based on paid or unpaid caring work. The ‘crisis of the domestic sphere’ (Giles & Arat-Koc, 1994), or ‘care gap’ (Parreñas, 2001) or ‘care deficit’ (Ehrenreich & Hochschild, 2003) in wealthy countries has been filled with migrant labour from poor countries. The chain of care stretches from developing countries to developed industrialised countries. The plight of migrant domestic workers is well documented worldwide as one of the most vulnerable groups that are subjected to abuse and exploitation both in their home country and in destination countries. Since they have no legal status in the destination countries of West Asia due to the

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