mafiwastafor workers' rights in the United Arab Emirates
Aims
Mafiwasta was set up in 2005 to attempt to draw atttention to the plight of the UAE's migrant workforce. It initially had no other purpose than to attract media attention to an issue which had received virtually none, depite the extent and gravity of the human rights abuses which have been committed in the UAE for decades. In 2006 Mafiwasta, in association with Irish-based human rights group Human Rights for Change submitted a complaint to the International Labour Organisation's Committee on Freedom of Association in which we argued that the entire system of abuse and exploitation was underpinned by the denial of trade union rights. This remains our position, although there are numerous other short-term steps which the UAE could take to mitigate against the absence of trade unions: stop the widespread confiscation of passports; vet the suitability of recruitment agents who are effectively permitted to add visa and travel costs illegally thus trapping workers in conditions of debt bondage; end the kafala system of emplyment which ensures workers are tied to one employer and dependent on that employer for wages, healthcare and housing; prosecute and materially punish employers who abuse workers, withhold wages etc.
Mafiwasta does not believe the UAE will introduce such measures since it is the cumulative effect of precisely these measures which facilitates the repressive control of the UAE's migrant workforce. Shifting the blame to individual employers allows the state to plead the role of impotent overseer in the face of unforeseen abuses. In reality there is little difference between private and public sector and the state chooses to resist reform and perpetuate a labour system which is founded on systematic racial discrimination and, in the worst cases, can be characterized as de facto enslavement.
Mafiwasta will continue to work to draw international attention to this issue through the international media and United Nations treaty bodies and special mechanisms. Our area of focus is currently limited to the United Arab Emirates but we hope to expand the scope of our work to include other GCC states, where migrant workers face the same sort of exploitation. It should be stressed that we are a voluntary organisation and receive no funding.
People
Nicholas McGeehan is a doctoral candidate at the European University Institute in Florence in Italy. His research looks at the legal and human rights issues pertaining to migrant workers in the Arabian Gulf. He has first-hand experience of working conditions in the UAE having worked for two state-owned oil companies in Abu Dhabi from 2002 to 2006. Nicholas.McGeehan@eui.eu
Niamh Hayes is a doctoral candidate at the Irish Center for Human Rights in Galway, Ireland . She is a case reporter for the Oxford Reports on International Criminal Law (ORICL) for Oxford University Press. She has delivered tutorials and lectures to undergraduate students in subjects including Constitutional Law, Property Law, International Law, Criminology and Environmental Law. niamh1@gmail.com
Dr David Keane is a lecturer in law at Brunel University in London. He specialises in international human rights law, minority rights and regional systems of human rights and is the author of a highly-acclaimed book on caste-based discrimination. david.keane@brunel.ac.uk