UN must strengthen laws to protect migrant domestic workers

Nela worked 14-18 hours every day, caring for her employer in every aspect of her daily life, from bathing and feeding her, to staying close by at night to minister to the elderly woman's needs.

Meals were so sparse, Nela says, that she shed 7kg in five months, and slept for barely two hours a night. Payment, which was well below the minimum wage, was often delayed, and took no account of the overtime she worked, including weekends, or the occasions when she had to clean her employer's son's house.

This reality was very different from what Nela had imagined when she paid $7,000 (£4,300) to an agency in India to arrange work for her in Israel, so that she could send money back to her family. She was told she would be paid $625 a month, plus a weekly allowance and holiday pay. When the promises failed to materialise, Nela turned to her agency for help but they ordered her to stay, claiming that her contract stated she was not allowed to quit under any circumstances.

Nela's story is not unique. Millions of domestic workers around the world are employed in private homes, hidden from official sight and vulnerable to exploitation. As the International Labour Organisation (ILO), has noted: "Female migrant workers engaged in domestic services are one of the most vulnerable groups of migrant workers … They are often subject exploitation or physical and sexual violence by their employers or clients."

Civil society and charities exist in various countries that support and protect such women, informing them of the few rights they may have. But labour laws in most countries do not extend to migrant domestic workers.

Domestic labour is commonplace worldwide, especially in the Middle East, where the ILO estimates nearly a quarter to a third of the region's 22 million migrant workers are women engaged domestically.

In Israel, about 50,000 migrant workers from countries such as the Philippines, Nepal, Sri Lanka and India are employed as round-the-clock caregivers for the elderly and people with disabilities. They are a section of the workforce excluded from employment law, which covers hours and conditions.

Further north, in Lebanon, where demand for migrant domestic workers has increased over the past 10-15 years, there are more than 200,000 migrant domestic workers. They are routinely denied their rights, including the right to resign except in extreme circumstances, such as pay being withheld, or physical or sexual abuse (which requires medical certification), or they risk detention for breach of contract.

In Egypt, there were, at the last count, about 245,000 migrant workers, a sizeable proportion of whom are believed to be employed on the domestic front. The country's labour laws entirely exclude that category of worker, leaving them vulnerable to abuse, and to violation of their rights.

The two-day, high-level dialogue, which ends on Friday, is looking at how to improve rights for migrants, and the international mechanisms that support them.

We urge delegates at the conference to agree steps that mean migrant workers have the same rights and protections as other workers, not least domestic workers, who are often forgotten such discussions.

Two years ago the ILO adopted the domestic workers convention 189, which, if implemented, would protect their rights. However, many countries have yet to ratify the convention, including the UK, which abstained from the vote.

Implementing the standards in the ILO convention would mean that migrant domestic workers would be accorded equivalent rights to other workers, in fundamental areas such as pay and hours of work, social security entitlements and health and safety. There are also specific protections relating to being a migrant worker (where relevant), such as outlawing the deduction of agency fees from the salaries of domestic workers, which places them in debt bondage, and the confiscation of passports by employers.

Civil society organisations have joined together to promote clear recommendations for the high-level dialogue, which resonate with the government commitments suggested by the UN secretary-general's special rapporteur on migration. These include better recruitment regulation and the same rights as national workers, which includes the right to organise and improved working conditions. This encouraging convergence must be used to ensure that governments, employers, unions, workers and civil society organisations harness agreed goals to make real changes for migrant workers such as Nela.

Oliver Pearce is Christian Aid's Middle East programme manager