Wednesday, 13 June 2012
David Boyle and Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
Both the government and the Association of Cambodian Recruitment Agencies yesterday denied media reports that Cambodia and Vietnam will provide domestic workers to Saudi Arabia.
Citing Saudi Arabian newspapers, the news website Emirates 24/7 reported yesterday that Cambodian and Vietnam had agreed to send maids to the country if basic conditions such as minimum break times were ensured.
This would help fill the shortfall of maids in Saudi Arabia after Indonesia and the Philippines both placed moratoriums on sending domestic migrant workers to the Middle Eastern nation last year.
But Hou Vudthy, deputy general director at the Ministry of Labour, said yesterday that Cambodia had never negotiated or discussed sending maids to work in Saudi Arabia.
“We have not sent maids or discussed sending maids to Saudi Arabia or any Arab countries,” he said.
ACRA board member Lao Ly Hok said the association had looked at the possibility of sending maids to Saudi Arabia a long time ago, but concluded it was not viable after conducting studies.
“For our members of ACRA, we don’t have this green light to send to Saudi Arabia, and [under] our ACRA policy we did not decide to send to Saudi Arabia,” he said, adding that no such plan was in the works.
He said ACRA was busy negotiating protections so domestic workers could return to Malaysia after the government placed a moratorium on sending maids there last year following a spate of abuse scandals.
Joel Preston, a consultant with the Cambodian Legal Education Center, said that given the precedents of abuse, it was crucial protections were negotiated before any thought was given to sending maids to countries such as Saudi Arabia.
“We really need to make sure that those measures are enforced otherwise we’re going to have a repeat of the same process that we saw in Malaysia, it’s going to be mass exploitation and possible fatalities,” he said.
The Indonesian moratorium on sending domestic workers to Saudi Arabia was instituted in August after a maid found guilty of murdering her employer was beheaded.
To contact the reporters on this story: David Boyle at david.boyle@phnompenhpost.com
Mom Kunthear at kunthear.mom@phnompenhpost.com
Mom Kunthear at kunthear.mom@phnompenhpost.com
4 comments:
NO, Government is doing the wrong thing by banning maids to Saudi Arabia
If you ask the Phillippine and Thai Government, you would know that their maids send hundreds of millions dollars (if not billions) to their respective home countries. It's one of the great sources of economic developement and poverty alleviation. The problem is that our relevant authorities such as Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training , Embassies, etc, do not know how to negotiate and intervene with those government.
With this goverment, Cambodian people have no choice and chance to improve their standards of living. Those governments in the middle east will go to the phillippines and Thailand again.
In the title stating that "the government is doing the right thing" should be deleted so that this Khmerization knows sothing about economics
Usa
I oppose the idea of seding young Khmer ladies to be slave/ maid in any country. Here the reason why:
#1, these Muslim's countries were abusive toward women in general,it get worse when you are not a" MUSLIM WOMAN"
#2,Women in Saudi Arabia does not allow to drive a car or work outside their home.
#3,if get caught driving vehicle or chart with a guy alone without brothers or husband around that women must be punished by wipp in public, in a form of public humiliation.
These are some of the rules that women must obey in Saudi Arabia today.If get caught with affair outside their marriage the woman must be stoned to death.
For Khmer ladies whose doesn't know their rules and with custom/ tradition/ language bearier will be difficult and prone to be abused or even kill like Si Chan or many others maid in Malaysia recently months.
Muslim world does not have mercy for women or an infidel,or any others races, ethnic that are not Muslim,only Khmer race that nice kind to all ethnic/race/religion, that is why our land getting smaller everyday.
If our govt invest on manufacture goods open factories create job for our women, we won't be talking about this maids crab,our gov't is bussied stealing from the state and from the poor Khmer to enrich themselves and its cronies that why this is the talk of the town today.
Concern....
Khmer
9:41 PM, didn't you read that Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia banned their maids to Saudi Arabia?
The billions that the people of these countries sent back homes are not money earned by maids (domestic workers), but factory workers or workers working in the oil fields.
If Saudi Arabia wants Cambodians to work in the oil fields or factories, it is ok, but not as maids because of the abuses in Malaysia of Cambodian maids, Indonesian maids and Filipino maids, some even got killed.
Look at Korea, their people didn't recruit Cambodian maids, but recruited a lot of factory workers where they sent millions back to Cambodia.
You have to think of the abuses Cambodian maids suffered under the bad employers, especially Muslim employers, who had different culture and traditions from Cambodians.
Cambodia should stop sending maids to anywhere, where there is no law or measures to protect them. Cambodia can send maids to USA, Australia, Canada, UK or some European countries where they have strict laws to protect all workers, including maids.
You can send CEOs, managers, scientists or maids only to where there is a demand.
Of cause every one would want to send his/her mother, if he has a choice, to be a maid in US, Australia, France or Canada but you have to see if there is a demand in those markets or not and at the same time you have to see if our mothers are qualify to be maids in those markets or not.
Secondly, if the laws Saudi Aribia is so crelt as you said, why you agree to send our mothers to be workers in oil fields, to be a CEOs or to be abusinesswomen? Does the laws apply to all women of all careers?
Thirdly, my personal ideas, at the moment, it is the better way out for our mothers to seek jobs overseas rather than living in pain as a factory worker or house maid in Cambodia under Hun Sen regime.
They would not want to go far away from their children if they have a decent jobs to earn a meek wage to feed their beloved children; my mother share the same feeling as mind.
Lastly, as a Buddhist I feel sorry for those women in the Muslim coutries, but they would be better living that way that we would not know.
The authories have the responsibility to create jobs locally and at the same time seek the best markets abroad for our people. Our government seems not to be able to create jobs, seek for markets, and able to negotiate for upper terms to secure safety for our maids as well as other compatriots working abroad. What government officers know is to blame our mothers that they are stupid, they do not listen to the government, they do not abide by the laws!!!!!! How dare those officers do that??????? When will we be able to alleviate poverty??? The gap between the rich and the poor keeps widdening????
Usa
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