This
report examines the work of Instance de Solidarité avec les Immigrés Asiatiques (ISIA)[1] in
representing and providing a unique safety net for Asian migrant workers whose employment
as domestic- or service-sector workers, coupled with a lack of a formal
immigration status in Morocco, renders them especially vulnerable to human
trafficking and other forms of exploitation. The fact that ISIA has been
successful, against the odds, in holding national and international authorities
accountable to persistent human rights violations, suggests that ISIA’s work is
an example of success against the odds. In posing the question: why is ISIA able
to provide effective support to marginalised persons, this study aims to facilitate
reflection on where systems of migration and local organising interact, and
explore the types of intervention that could support further reductions, and
possibly eliminate, the incidence of human trafficking amongst this
population.
Using
Facebook and its associated Messenger app, ISIA has established a social
network through which geographically dispersed migrant Asian workers remain in
contact with one another using familiar languages such as English, Indonesian
or Tagalog. This network allows victims of gross exploitation to be identified,
counselled and seek help from ISIA – including rescue from abusive employers,
providing refuge for weeks or even months at ISIA’s shelter in Salé (the twin
city to Rabat – Morocco’s capital), advocacy in recovering seized passports
from employers, and support in accessing local, national and international
services, including the Police, hospitals, consular services, as well as
repatriation through the International Organisation for Migration. These
services are provided benevolently, with no charge to the victims of
exploitation or human trafficking. At any given moment in time, there are
between 5 and 10 women migrant workers living at the ISIA shelter, who have
fled brutal working conditions, but cannot leave the country until such time as
their passports can be recovered from their employers.
Morocco
is a destination country for migrant workers from Asian countries such as Indonesia
and the Philippines, whose nationals do not require a visa to enter the
country. Tourist entry allows for stays of up to 3 months. Persons staying
longer than this need to apply for an appropriate form of official residency, but
there is no such category available for domestic workers. There is a high
demand from wealthy Moroccans for Asian domestic workers (as well as for chefs
in the restaurant sector) who have an excellent reputation (and English
language skills). This, coupled with the absence of an official regulatory
system governing the work done by Asian migrant workers, has allowed an
unregulated system to develop.
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for domestic work in Morocco happens online through social networks where
workers are attracted by the lack of an agency fee which is typically imposed
by more regulated markets for Asian domestic workers such as Hong Kong or Singapore.
Recruitment is handled by agencies without any legal status under the Moroccan
Labour Code, and who facilitate the worker’s exit from countries such as the
Philippines by providing false documentation. The domestic worker is then often
trapped with the employer in the host country since the worker’s identity
documents are retained either by the agency or by employer. The domestic
workers are frequently unaware of their own status as undocumented migrants.
Moroccan
employers typically pay the agency a fee as well as the worker’s travel costs. The
practice of deceiving the domestic worker regarding their right to work and
then retaining their passport, when coupled with exploitative employment
practices such as non-payment of wages or abusive working conditions would meet
the definition of “trafficking in persons” as set out in Article 3(a) of the
United Nation’s Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons[2]. This
practice is however widespread and even condoned by the Moroccan authorities[3]. Yet
the landscape of migration has been evolving: in 2014, Morocco implemented a
new policy on asylum and immigration known as the ‘nouvelle politique
migratoire’ (NPM) resulting
in the formal recognition of tens of thousands of hitherto undocumented
sub-Saharan migrants. As a result, Morocco
gained significant international recognition as seen by the country’s recent
hosting of the United Nation’s adoption of Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and
Regular Migration in 2018. However, the ongoing absence of regulation covering
the employment of Asian domestic workers – who remain undocumented – remains a
significant facilitating factor of human trafficking in the country.
ISIA
was founded by Hayat Baraho and her husband Ismail El Ammari, both health care
professionals with the Sale hospital. A fluent English speaker, Hayat
previously worked as a nurse in the Middle East where she also came into
contact with the difficulties experienced by migrant workers from Asia. Having previously led the efforts to organise
Asian domestic workers within a union, Hayat was particularly affected by the government
of Morocco’s treatment of Asian domestic workers following the introduction of
the NPM, whose status and protections barely changed and who remain extremely
vulnerable to exploitation and human trafficking. As a Moroccan national with a
strong network of relationships within the community, Hayat can achieve
outcomes unavailable to most Asian migrant workers. As such ISIA facilitates
transport to the shelter and access to health care services, as well as reporting
incidents of human trafficking to the Police and Judicial authorities.
Since
2012, Hayat has successful recovered dozens of sequestered passports thus
facilitating the repatriation of the victims. As a woman, she is able to
establish an honest and trusting relationship with the mainly female population
of Asian domestic workers, and they in turn are able to share their stories of
abuse and exploitation which otherwise would remain untold. As a leader, Hayat
has direct access to influencers within Morocco’s institutional structures,
including the CNDH, government ministries and embassies, as well as the trade
union movement.
ISIA
is at a critical juncture and the organisation needs support to develop:
- Service provision for cases of abuse and human trafficking;
- Awareness and protection of the human rights of Asian domestic workers;
- Informal mechanisms to reduce or eliminate the incidence of human trafficking; and
- Preparation of witness statements in Arabic to allow the authorities to initiate judicial proceedings on behalf of the victims of human trafficking and violence.
As
the organisation’s first priority, ISIA has developed effective mechanisms to
identify and extract abused domestic workers from situations of human
trafficking and abuse. The challenge for the organisation is absorbing the
costs of providing shelter to these women, who often remain for weeks or months
before their passports can be recovered and return travel organised. The costs
involved are benevolently borne by Hayat and Ismail, reflecting both the
precarious nature of domestic work and the difficulty of establishing a formal
structure to represent undocumented workers. Help in securing other sources of
funding for ISIA’s daily operation and service provision is the most urgent
priority.
Building
awareness of the rights of Asian migrants presents the challenge that a
contract for employment as a domestic worker is currently unlikely to be
approved by the Ministry of Labour – a prerequisite to applying for a residency
permit. Nonetheless, since legislation regulating domestic work[4]
came into force on 2 October 2018, the establishment of legally enforceable
minimum standards of employment should be seen as an opportunity to educate
both employer and employee of their mutual rights and obligations. This is
information which, with quite limited support, could easily be made accessible
to Asian domestic workers via the social networks established by ISIA.
Over
the years that ISIA has been operating, the recruitment agencies of Asian
domestic workers have frequently attempted to discredit and undermine the work
done by Hayat and her husband with targeted campaigns of misinformation and
smears. There are however encouraging signs that these agencies might be
persuaded to find a negotiated solution, or failing that a BATNA[5]. Support
from experienced mediators could allow ISIA to establish employment
arrangements for Asian domestic workers through a code of practice or similar
mechanism that would help reduce or even eliminate the incidence of human
trafficking among Asian domestic workers in Morocco.
For
more information about how to support ISIA, please contact Hayat Baraho on +
212 6 67 74 01 81, or by email at ass.isia2015@gmail.com.
This
report was authored on 26 January 2019 by Michael Schwaabe, a development
manager with over 25 years of experience working in support of workers’ rights
and close to 10 years specific experience of supporting migrant worker rights
organisations in Morocco. Michael can be contacted by email at mschwaabe@gmail.com.
[1]
www.facebook.com/ISIAsian/
[3]
Author interview, 22 Feb 2017
[5]
Best Alternative To A Negotiated Agreement, Fisher and William (1981)