Tricked and Trapped: Human Trafficking in the Middle East, ‎pdf 4.1 MB

Physical violence and threats
Employers and workers alike indicated in the interviews that it was more
difficult to use violence against male migrant workers than their female
counterparts. An employer in Lebanon admitted openly that “it is not
possible to use physical violence against these workers. They are men.” Syrian
and Egyptian workers in Lebanon agreed, saying that “employers in Lebanon
never use force with Egyptians because they know that we will take our revenge
if they do so”. Even so, while employers may not often resort to outright
physical violence against male migrant workers in putting pressure on them
to work, they frequently use threats and insults. An Egyptian construction
worker in Lebanon admitted: “We are often blackmailed by the employer,”
and a Nepalese factory worker in Lebanon said that “my employer uses verbal
insults against me”. Workers are often threatened with denunciation to the
authorities and deportation back to their country of origin. For example,
Bengali cleaning workers in Lebanon said that “our employer threatens us
with dismissal if we don’t work like he wants”.
Lack of mobility between employers under the kafala system
Under the kafala system, a migrant worker cannot change employer without
completing the contractual period and obtaining official release from the
first employer. In Kuwait, workers who have three continuous years of
residence and work with one employer in the country may transfer their
work permits without reference to that employer. 256 In Jordan, the migrant
worker is allowed to transfer from one employer to another after six months
have elapsed from the issuance of the work permit with the first employer,
but only “provided that the Ministry and both the employers – the former
and the new employer – give their approval in addition to cancelling of the
work permit and issuance of a new one for a period of one year and with
new fees”. 257 Migrant workers may also transfer without the approval of the
former employer after their initial work permit expires. 258
In the UAE, a ministerial decree of 2010 stipulates that migrant workers
who have completed two years’ work with one employer can change job if
they so choose and that the employer cannot prevent them from doing so. 259
According to the annual report by the country’s National Committee to
Combat Human Trafficking,
256
Kuwait, Ministerial Order No. 200(a), 27 Feb. 2011, concerning the regulation of
employment in the private sector, art. 15.
257
Jordan, Instructions for the Conditions and Procedures of Recruiting and
Employing Non-Jordanian Workers for the Year 2009, art. 12(2a).
258
Jordan, Instructions for the Conditions and Procedures of Recruiting and
Employing Non-Jordanian Workers for the year 2009, art. 12(2b).
259
UAE, Ministerial Decree No. 1186, 2010.
117