A new twist to the ongoing saga of exploitation of Indian domestic helpers in Gulf countries has emerged with news that more and more household workers are being imprisoned by recruitment agents or sponsors, and being freed only after payment of a ransom.
Labor activists have expressed grave concerns about this growing phenomena of abducting household workers and holding them to ransom. The National Domestic Workers Movement has reported at least two cases a month of agents demanding money from families of women working in the Gulf in exchange for their return home.
The agents usually keep the women’s passports, effectively holding them hostage in a foreign land. Many of these victims are unskilled or semi-skilled workers lured by job agents’ promises of good pay and easy work who find themselves trapped in low paying domestic jobs, often working up to 15-hour days and having to endure verbal or physical abuse.
Last month, relatives of three victims lodged a petition with India’s Supreme Court criticizing official complaint mechanisms of state governments. Rahul Dutt, director at the overseas employment and protectorate of emigrants office in India’s foreign ministry, said authorities had been able to quickly resolve cases where people had migrated legally for work. “But when people go through illegal agents the problems get multiplied many times, as it is difficult to trace people who went through illegal channels.
India’s foreign ministry received more than 9,500 complaints between January and June this year from migrant workers in the Gulf. Most concerned unpaid salaries, no days off or medical cover and a refusal to provide exit or re-entry visas so they could visit their homes in India