Ads for foreign maids highlight poor pay – Findings show poor treatment of maids in Middle East

[Sally]

It's sad that these women have to leave their home country to find work and then have to work in horrendous conditions at very low pay. Imagine if any one of us had to work for so many hours a day and then receive such a low salary.




Ads for foreign maids highlight poor pay – Findings show poor treatment of maids in Middle East



JAKARTA: Vendors wait for customers at a market in the Indonesian capital Jakarta yesterday. — AFP

JAKARTA: A survey of ads for jobs in Asia and the Middle East found that foreign domestic workers are paid most in Hong Kong, yet earn a fraction of what they would make if they worked in wealthier countries. Activists said the survey highlighted the need for action to tackle the low salaries of migrant domestic workers in the two regions and help stamp out exploitation.

Of the major countries employing migrant domestic workers in Asia and the Middle East, salaries are highest in Hong Kong, at $567 a month, according to the study by HelperChoice, a website that connects employers with domestic workers seeking jobs.

Domestic workers, mostly women from poorer South and Southeast Asian countries, often earn more than they could back home, but far below the monthly minimum wage domestic workers earn in countries such as Australia ($2,230) or France ($1,866), based on 40 hours of work per week, HelperChoice said. “What the survey shows is how poorly paid domestic workers are in Asia and the Middle East,” said Eman Villanueva, a spokesperson from the Hong Kong-based Asian Migrants Coordinating Body, an umbrella group representing foreign domestic helpers in the financial hub.

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Ads for foreign maids highlight poor pay - Findings show poor treatment of maids in Middle East - Kuwait Times

 

[aris2chat]

always has been a problem.

 

[Sally]

always has been a problem.

I remember reading, Aris, several years ago how poor Moroccan families would send their daughters as young as 8 years old to work for rich Moroccan families. The little girls had to sleep on a hard floor and worked about 12 hours a day doing the housekeeping.. I doubt if their families were given much money for their daughters' hard labor. At 8 years old, my daughter was busy playing with her Barbie dolls and not keeping house for rich people..

 

[aris2chat]

always has been a problem.

I remember reading, Aris, several years ago how poor Moroccan families would send their daughters as young as 8 years old to work for rich Moroccan families. The little girls had to sleep on a hard floor and worked about 12 hours a day doing the housekeeping.. I doubt if their families were given much money for their daughters' hard labor. At 8 years old, my daughter was busy playing with her Barbie dolls and not keeping house for rich people..

Girls, and young women, would travel to other countries and have their passports withheld and they would be abused by "employers".

We had a local girl in her late teens and were responsible for all her health care. She traveled the world with us for pleasure and to get away from the fighting. When she found someone we made sure she was free to marry, despite her father who wanted half her pay. She knew she would be let go but that was what she wanted. She would not be free to travel and be with us all the time. We had her when my brother was young.

We tried to hire locals in the camps who were begging in the streets from time to time, to help with the clean up for a party for a few hours but were usually spit at. My father had former soldiers and their wives who usually came to help with parties and larger events when possible. They seemed to be willing to do anything for him. One as a driver who my father later was able to get a job at a UN security guard, but in his free time he was my security and driver when I had to go to less than safe areas.

 

[Sally]

always has been a problem.

I remember reading, Aris, several years ago how poor Moroccan families would send their daughters as young as 8 years old to work for rich Moroccan families. The little girls had to sleep on a hard floor and worked about 12 hours a day doing the housekeeping.. I doubt if their families were given much money for their daughters' hard labor. At 8 years old, my daughter was busy playing with her Barbie dolls and not keeping house for rich people..

Girls, and young women, would travel to other countries and have their passports withheld and they would be abused by "employers".

We had a local girl in her late teens and were responsible for all her health care. She traveled the world with us for pleasure and to get away from the fighting. When she found someone we made sure she was free to marry, despite her father who wanted half her pay. She knew she would be let go but that was what she wanted. She would not be free to travel and be with us all the time. We had her when my brother was young.

We tried to hire locals in the camps who were begging in the streets from time to time, to help with the clean up for a party for a few hours but were usually spit at. My father had former soldiers and their wives who usually came to help with parties and larger events when possible. They seemed to be willing to do anything for him. One as a driver who my father later was able to get a job at a UN security guard, but in his free time he was my security and driver when I had to go to less than safe areas.

There are a few families like yours who treat their help decently, but there have been plenty of articles about how terrible these foreign maids are treated in the Middle East, making some even commit suicide.