1 / 10

A Tale of Two Committees: CERD and CEDAW and the Protection of Migrant Workers’ Rights in the Gulf

A Tale of Two Committees: CERD and CEDAW and the Protection of Migrant Workers’ Rights in the Gulf. Nick McGeehan European University Institute, Florence. Outline. The region The problem Mafiwasta International Obligations CERD August 2009 CEDAW January 2010 Following Up.

jasper
Download Presentation

A Tale of Two Committees: CERD and CEDAW and the Protection of Migrant Workers’ Rights in the Gulf

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. A Tale of Two Committees: CERD and CEDAW and the Protection of Migrant Workers’ Rights in the Gulf Nick McGeehan European University Institute, Florence

  2. Outline • The region • The problem • Mafiwasta • International Obligations • CERD August 2009 • CEDAW January 2010 • Following Up

  3. The Gulf Cooperative States • Economically, socially, culturally homogenous • 0.5% of world population • 20% global oil production / reserves • Strong western allies • Recent history of slave trading and use of slaves • Dependence on migrant labour

  4. $Arabian Gulf vs. $South Asia

  5. Migrant Workers in the Gulf • Imposition of debt • Passport Confiscation • Kafala system • Denial of access to justice • Denial of trade union rights • No active civil society • Active repression of human rights defenders • No press freedom

  6. Mafiwasta: Origins and Goals

  7. International Obligations *none have recognised the Committee’s competence to accept individual complaints under Article 14 of CERD.

  8. CERD: August 2009 “he observed that the State party’s society appeared stratified, with an element of separation between citizens and different groups of migrant workers. In that regard, he recalled the Committee’s view, expressed in general recommendation XIX, that a condition of racial segregation could arise without any initiative or direct involvement by the public authorities...”

  9. CEDAW: January 2010 57. The Committee requests the State party to provide, within two years, written information on the steps undertaken to implement the recommendations contained in paragraphs 27 and 37 [shelters for abused women + legal protection of foreign workers]

  10. Thank You The End

More Related