The most compelling news I found when searching for information about migration in or out of Saudia Arabia was news on the horrific human rights violations that have been committed in Saudia Arabia against many of the 8-9 million migrant workers from mostly from the Indian Subcontinent and South-East Asia.
The immigration visas are tied to the employers, which gives the employer control over the employees. The word "slavery" or "slave like conditions" was used in multiple articles I found. Many accounts of rape are reported on, but seem not to be reported in Saudi Arabia. The migrant workers who do speak out seem to be countered by the more powerful (in that situation) Saudi Employers. These sort of violations seem to be a trend seeing as immigrants in other countries have little agency. My experience in the United States has mostly been with Mexican and other Latin American immigrants. I worked for an immigration lawyer and learned about the fear of authority that is instilled in immigrants. Human rights violations seem inevitable in these situations as these people are easily taken advantage of, but the Saudi situation seems extreme.
Here is a story from the Guardian that gives a good backgroud on the situation.
ok it's Iraq but it's interesting
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Here is a link to a blog put up by Morgan on a different Blog. There are a
number of entries that tie more to your topic than theirs. Enjoy.
15 years ago
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ReplyDeleteRhiannon from Media, Perspective, and Place 1 found media on the "seedy underbelly" of migrant abuse in Saudi Arabia. I also found a source on an LA Times blog that discusses the same media campaign which aims to expose migrant mistreatment in the Gulf: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2008/12/saudi-arabia-br.html
ReplyDeleteNote that the videos appeal to the importance of mercy within Islamic teachings (especially this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Al3UQYV8Mvk) as a way of framing the central message about abuse. The blog discusses the basic plot of two of the ads and the tagline at the end ("He who is not merciful will not be afforded mercy"). The blog also mentions that the campaign was created and promoted by a private group, so this was not an initiative on the part of the Saudi government. Was anyone able to find information about any steps taken by the government to address migrant rights?