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A man should be judged by his deeds not on his appearance - Al Quran

The migrant labors from South Asia have played a great role in the transformation of Middle Eastern countries. Most of their construction works consisted of physical labors by people of this region. They clean the garbage, work in shops even some have been recruited by the police. But in general they are being looked down upon as miskins (beggars), mainly because they are poor enough. Here is another example how they are being singled out and dishonored:


Do you see any indecency in any of the dresses above? But believe it or not the Sharjah Police are cracking down on men wearing the lungi (on the left) in public.

An Asian man was arrested and interrogated by police patrols in Sharjah a few days ago for wearing a lungi in public.

The man said police told him lungis cannot be worn in public.

Sharjah Police maintain that indecent and revealing clothes are not allowed in public. "The decency law was implemented in Sharjah ten years ago," an officer said.

He said people were expected to wear decent clothes in public, but did not explain if there was a ban on wearing the lungi in public.

Here is what an Arab has to say about Lungi:

Lungi is not indecent dress. when any body lift the lungi above the thigh then it is indecent. Even kandoora can be lifted. if police found any one lifting lungi then they can take actions, but generally when anybody wear lungi in decent manner then it is wrong to object that.

You will see a lot of illogical comment in that Gulf News article about Lungi being indecent and it should be banned. It may be a poor man's attire and be considered informal but who decides fashion? Is Sharjah paying these labors decent salaries so they can afford fancy thobes? What would these people say when Sharjah bans tight jeans because you can see the curves - it may be interpreted as indecent although its not revealing. There is already a crackdown on jeans in Iran.

There are certain rules about attires in every society. In Bangladesh there are places where you need formal dress and cannot enter with a Lungi. But nobody has the audacity to say that Lungi will be banned from public places.

Illogical moral policing will not establish a good example of advancement of society. It is pure racism in a new bottle.

This is an unusual but brilliant opinion from a Kuwaiti - Ali Ahmed Al-Baghli, the Former Minister of Oil, published in the Arab Times:

IT is wrong to dread the citizens of certain countries simply because some of their compatriots are involved in illegal and unethical activities. Inadequacies are not inherited, yet some people seem to enjoy discriminating others due to the misdeeds of their compatriots. Actually, the main problem is the improper enforcement of the law. Some groups, including the security authorities, consider certain nationalities like the Bangladeshis as outlaws!

Kuwaitis should not forget the fact that Bangladeshis clean your streets, collect your garbage, and serve you in public and private offices as they deliver documents, in addition to preparing tea and coffee for you. In other words, the Bangladeshis do the work of lazy citizens in government departments. Moreover, Kuwaitis should also realize that Bangladeshis are the watchmen in your houses and chalets. They also drive your children to school and your wives to cooperative societies. Everybody is aware of the vital services rendered by Bangladeshis, yet many have disregarded such great contributions due to nationality-based discrimination, which has negatively affected the lives of more than 100 million people with remarkable achievements that 300 million Arabs cannot accomplish.

Those who insult or discriminate against Bangladeshis, are they aware that a Bangladeshi discovered laser eye surgery? Do YouTube subscribers know that it is a Bangladeshi entity? Does the Kuwaiti military pilot know a Bangladeshi discovered the light aluminum in his aircraft? Do users of Bose speakers know that Mr Bose is a Bangladeshi?

Do you know the first man who built a skyscraper — Sears Tower in Chicago — was a Bangladeshi? Do women who got the so-called test tube babies know that one of the leading figures in this field is a Bangladeshi? Do you know that a Bangladeshi has invented a certain statistical equation? These are just few of the contributions of Bangladeshis to the world. What are the achievements of Kuwaitis or GCC citizens who have been abusing Bangladeshis?

Wow Mr. Al-Baghli, I am moved! And thank you from the bottom of my heart.

This sort of news barely make it to the pages of the mainstream media. That is why alternative citizen media outlets becoming more and more important for those who want to see the clear picture. The Online Community of Singapore (TOC) started their journey in December 2006 with a simple aim in mind: "telling the stories about Singapore and Singaporeans that weren’t being told in the mainstream press."

TOC reported back in May this year about Abu Sama (Asmad Kadir), a Bangladeshi labor, who was physically abused by his employer in Singapore.

Asmad Kadir, 28, has been working with Ocean Marine Engineering in Singapore since 2007. In February this year, he asked for the five months’ worth of salary owed to him to be paid.

On 13 April, in a salary dispute mediation session overseen by MOM between Asmad and his employer, it was agreed that Asmad’s employer would pay him half of the salary owed and the other half “upon repatriation”, as stated in the agreement. However, till date, Asmad said he has been paid only S$300 out of the S$2,100 he is owed.

Asmad Kadir asked to meet with his employer at the Ministry of Manpower building on 14 May. His employer had wanted to meet with him at his (the employer’s) office. However, having been assaulted previously at the office (see story below), Asmad asked for the meeting to be held at MOM instead.

An hour of negotiation ensued which lasted till 6pm, when the MOM building was to be closed. Asmad then had no choice but to go out and meet with Ganesh. There, Ganesh and another man, Biji, insisted that Asmad signed the receipt for the money first before they paid him. Asmad told them he would not and that he will only sign after he has received the money. They got into a heated argument. The two men then seemed to relent and asked that they proceeded to a side street where Asmad will be issued a receipt. “I feared for my safety,” Asmad said, “but I still went to the location with them.”

When they arrived at the new location, Ganesh and Biji tried to force Asmad into a microvan by manhandling him. In the scuffle, Ganesh punched him, causing his lips to bleed. Biji grabbed the right side of his face. In the struggle, Asmad’s shirt was torn and he managed to free himself and fled. “This is not the first time Ganesh has assaulted me,” Asmad said in the police report he lodged against his employer’s brother.

Now there is an update from TOC:

Those of you who’ve watched Migrant Dreams might remember Abu Sama. He’s the little guy who ran away from his company after being slapped on the ear by his supervisor. The wound – a perforation in his eardrum – took months to heal.

We wondered then how he would survive the ordeal. We thought he might sink into depression. But Abu Sama surprised us all. When the Ministry of Manpower told him that he was going to be sent home, he demanded to be paid before leaving for the airport. And when his angry bosses tried to drag him into their van, Abu Sama put up a struggle, escaped, and insisted on making a police report. A volunteer told us how he managed to wiggle out of his too-big t-shirt and run away. The image made us laugh. But Abu Sama didn’t find it funny at all – despite being homesick and short on cash, he decided to stay on in Singapore to pursue his case. It was, to him, a question of justice.

A few days ago, we received word that the police were letting Abu Sama’s bosses off with a warning. A warning. So apparently, it is OK for a person to rip a hole in another person’s eardrum. It is also OK for thugs to drive up next to you, and try and drag you into their car. A warning. That’s like a few words on a piece of paper. Gee, that’s really going to stop those guys from hurting other people.

He had pressed on, believing in Singapore’s justice system. Good god we’ve failed him.

Mohammad Iqbal, an Indonesian blogger living in Bahrain analyzes the plights of a Bangladeshi worker in Bahrain:

I recently met a Bangali who works for a hotel as a casual housekeeping attendant. He is actually Public Area attendant, one who takes care all public areas in a hotel, cleaning glass windows, or mopping floors of the lobby. He is not in charge for guest rooms. He does not make up rooms.

What’s not fair?

He spent BD1,500 to get working visa in Bahrain. He’s entitled 2 year permit. He’s paid BD10 a day, it means he earns BD240 a month. It’s pretty good pay? Wait..! He has to pay his flat, water, electricity, meal and of course sending money home.

Let’s calculate. For housing, he spends a sharing flat for let say BD50 a month. Then water and electricity will be additional BD10, and then meal for BD40 a month. Don’t forget, since he has a landlord or agent who arranged his employment, including job placement in different places, he has to pay for the agent fee at least BD25. So, total take home pay will be only BD115 a month.

In a year (12 month), he can safe BD1,380. This amount is still not enough to pay back the “visa” or “entrance fee” which is BD1,500. I have no idea whether this amount is legal or not, but one thing I really don't get is that within 2 years he can only safe BD1,260 net. As a conclusion, he spends 1,500 and sacrifices his two years working very hard for only BD1,260.

To extend another 2 years “working visa” he has to invest again BD1,000. This means, within 2 years, he gets only BD260 net to safe and I still have no clue how he pays for his flight ticket. I really don’t understand since it’s just not fair!

Its really hard to understand how the manpower agents lure these poor people into this nightmare and the governments ignore the truth.

Via Ayesha Saldanha, Global Voices.

Bangladeshi migrant workers are having a tensed time in Bahrain where the government has banned issuing work permits for Bangladeshis and the right wingers want 90000 Bangladeshis expelled from the country. This reminds of the discriminations in place when slavery persisted. An attack on master is seen as the most outrageous of crimes.

From Bahraini.TV:

All Bangladeshis could be expelled from Bahrain by the end of this year if a proposal by a group of local MPs is approved by parliament, it emerged yesterday.

The proposal by Al Asala bloc follows the death of a Bahraini who was killed in an attack after an argument with a Bangladeshi mechanic at a workshop in Suq Waqif, Hamad Town on Friday.

The worker demanded BD1.500 for welding machine repairs, but Bahraini Mohammed Jassim Dossary insisted on paying BD1, sources told the GDN.

Following a heated exchange, the worker attacked him with a grinder.

The man should be punished for this crime. But we need to also know in which situation he had to take this action, what problems he faced in this country to keep things in perspective.

This report provides insight into the plight of the Bangladeshi workers.

And the strangest of thing is that for the crime of one person a whole nation is being punished.

Ayesha Saldanha compiles Bahraini bloggers reactions on this issue in Global Voices Online.

Leading Bahraini blogger Mahmood says:

The demand to expel and ban Bangladeshis because of the unfortunate result of a single person’s moment of anger is tantamount to our agreement to the entrenchment and even encoding xenophobia as our main Bahraini trait.

In Bahrain there are also unclaimed arson attacks against restaurants and shops frequented by expatriate workers. In the most serious of these, in March 2006, seven Bangladeshi workers were killed (Human rights watch).

Reeshiez comments on the post:

This is the most ridiculous thing that I’ve heard and is blatant racial discrimination. I can’t believe our government did this and that many people support this law. You can’t punish an entire nation for isolated incidents by their citizens. How would bahrainis feel if all arabs were banned from coming to the US because a random Bahraini killed an American citizen? I am completely disgusted.

Bangladeshi immigrant workers consist of about 8% of the total population of Maldives (3,00,000). Their labor is an integral part of the tourism and construction industries of the country. But in recent days there are reports of mob attacks against the Bangladeshi community. Some were also brutally murdered.

Now Bangladesh Government has taken up this issue strongly. Minivan News reports:

Bangladesh’s High Commissioner has told Minivan News he will consider pulling his country’s 25,000 expatriate workers out of the Maldives, if the government cannot guarantee their security.

The warning comes after police failure to prevent a wave of attacks on the dormitory of Bangladeshis working for the Malé Municipality.