Human Rights Watch has interviewed many women outlining the stories of abuse of domestic workers migrating to the Persian Gulf in hopes of improving their lives. Data show that almost 150,000 female domestic workers are employed in the UAE: most are Asians, but increasing numbers are also from East Africa. The situation witnessed in the reports is very complex. Workers have to face the UAE’s labour laws and restrictive immigration policies. These factors, coupled with unethical recruitment in home countries, drive to an environment that is ripe for exploitation and abuses. Domestic workers are compelled to face long working hours with little or no rest, confinement to the household, with inadequate food or living conditions, and physical abuse. Additionally, employers have the possibility to confiscate the passports, so workers are literally trapped in their homes. Reports describe this alarming situation: under the kafala system, domestic workers cannot transfer employers before the end of their contracts without employers’ consent. Moreover, what is even more alarming is that the UAE excludes domestic workers from its labour laws. To address these difficulties and overcome the legal gap, the UAE authorities have recently modified the standard employment contract for domestic workers, requiring a day off per week and at least eight hours of rest in any 24-hour period. The question of forced labour and human rights abuses has been a crucial issue of the political agenda for long time. The UAE has tried to reinforce its commitment to face this plague, starting to address this problem with migrant workers in other fields, as construction, requiring employers to pay them electronically through their bank accounts with verifiable receipts. Furthermore, the UAE has established some precedents for accountability. For example, a UAE court has recently confirmed a 15-year prison sentence for an Emirati employer accused of torturing two domestic workers. In this framework, experts stress that also Asian countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka are trying to improve protections, in order to assist and safeguard domestic workers. Experts highlight that ending abusive recruitment, promoting safe and voluntary migration, and ensuring decent working conditions represent the main concrete ways to protect workers from human rights abuses. These important measures include rigorous monitoring of recruitment agencies, reforming the kafala system and bringing labour laws in line with the International Labour Organisation’s Domestic Workers Convention. The gLAWcal Team LIBEAC project Friday, 24 October 2014 (Source: HumanRightsWatch)