Millions of domestic workers in Asia who are at risk of abuse and slavery have no legal recognition, the United Nations labour agency has warned, urging reforms at a meeting on Wednesday to protect the world's "largest invisible workforce". From nannies to cleaners, Asia Pacific has one of the largest shares of the world's 67 million domestic workers, most of them women from impoverished families in countries such as the Philippines and Indonesia. The International Labour Organization (ILO) voiced concerns that more than 60 percent of domestic workers in Asia are denied any protection as most countries do not see them as formal workers. A lack of recognition means domestic workers are not covered under protections such as social security or the minimum wage.
"It is time for all employers of domestic workers to recognise that domestic workers are neither servants nor 'members of the family', but workers that should have the same rights as other workers," ILO's Asia-Pacific head Tomoko Nishimoto said.
Working excessive hours, being underpaid and trapped in debt bondage are common in domestic work, the top sector where forced labour exploitation has been found.
Anna Engblom, an ILO expert, said the fact domestic helpers work in isolation made their situation more vulnerable. She said legal recognition would be key to tackle slavery."If you work in a factory, you have other workers who face the similar situation. Here it is just one worker," she explained.
Lita Anggraini from the Indonesia's National Network for Domestic Workers Advocacy said progress had been slow in the region, with domestic workers having nowhere to seek redress in cases of abuse.
"The Philippines is the only country in ASEAN which has ratified a U.N. convention to recognise domestic workers' rights. We have been pushing for recognition in Indonesia for 13 years and we are still waiting," she said.
Sold into slavery for 500 rupees ($7.70), Badaik grew up working as a maid in the northeast Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, roughly 50km from her home in the tea gardens of the neighbouring state of Assam. "I think I am 16 or maybe 17 now," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation, She worked 17-hour days, was not allowed to step out of the house and had no friends. When Badaik grew up, she was told her salary was 100 Indian rupees($1.54) a month.
"The madam said she was putting it in the bank and they used it when I was sick or needed something." Badaik has one final task - to find her younger sister, similarly sold off by their father to work as a maid.
Many employers believe providing food and shelter is enough, said a senior bureaucrat in Arunachal Pradesh who requested anonymity.
"There is a demand which we cannot deny. Many families don't see it as against the law and there are rarely any complaints that come for us to take action," she said.
Across the tea plantations of Assam, where poverty is deeply entrenched, hundreds of thousands of children have gone missing, activists say.
"Agents and sometimes even families from Arunachal Pradesh drive into the tea gardens, pick any child and go," said Moni Darnal of non-profit Jagriti Samiti, which is running awareness campaigns on child trafficking. "They take them as young as three and four so that they can train them to do household chores. It's become an accepted norm and it is that simple."
India's 2011 census recorded more than 4 million labourers aged 5-14, out of 168 million globally, but campaigners say millions more are at risk due to poverty. More than half toil in farms, one in four work in manufacturing and others are in homes and hotels, washing dishes, chopping vegetables, cleaning and scrubbing floors.
Children may be sold for a few hundred rupees by desperate parents, sometimes for more than 100,000 rupees($1,540) by profit-hungry agents, according to child rights campaigners.
"On Monday, we rescued a child from the home of a former minister," said Jumtum Minga, who runs a helpline for children in Arunachal Pradesh's capital Itanagar."Like him, most employers are influential people, many in government. They all employ children because they don't have to pay them anything. Children are not demanding and so owners treat them as private property."
"It is time for all employers of domestic workers to recognise that domestic workers are neither servants nor 'members of the family', but workers that should have the same rights as other workers," ILO's Asia-Pacific head Tomoko Nishimoto said.
Working excessive hours, being underpaid and trapped in debt bondage are common in domestic work, the top sector where forced labour exploitation has been found.
Anna Engblom, an ILO expert, said the fact domestic helpers work in isolation made their situation more vulnerable. She said legal recognition would be key to tackle slavery."If you work in a factory, you have other workers who face the similar situation. Here it is just one worker," she explained.
Lita Anggraini from the Indonesia's National Network for Domestic Workers Advocacy said progress had been slow in the region, with domestic workers having nowhere to seek redress in cases of abuse.
"The Philippines is the only country in ASEAN which has ratified a U.N. convention to recognise domestic workers' rights. We have been pushing for recognition in Indonesia for 13 years and we are still waiting," she said.
Sold into slavery for 500 rupees ($7.70), Badaik grew up working as a maid in the northeast Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, roughly 50km from her home in the tea gardens of the neighbouring state of Assam. "I think I am 16 or maybe 17 now," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation, She worked 17-hour days, was not allowed to step out of the house and had no friends. When Badaik grew up, she was told her salary was 100 Indian rupees($1.54) a month.
"The madam said she was putting it in the bank and they used it when I was sick or needed something." Badaik has one final task - to find her younger sister, similarly sold off by their father to work as a maid.
Many employers believe providing food and shelter is enough, said a senior bureaucrat in Arunachal Pradesh who requested anonymity.
"There is a demand which we cannot deny. Many families don't see it as against the law and there are rarely any complaints that come for us to take action," she said.
Across the tea plantations of Assam, where poverty is deeply entrenched, hundreds of thousands of children have gone missing, activists say.
"Agents and sometimes even families from Arunachal Pradesh drive into the tea gardens, pick any child and go," said Moni Darnal of non-profit Jagriti Samiti, which is running awareness campaigns on child trafficking. "They take them as young as three and four so that they can train them to do household chores. It's become an accepted norm and it is that simple."
India's 2011 census recorded more than 4 million labourers aged 5-14, out of 168 million globally, but campaigners say millions more are at risk due to poverty. More than half toil in farms, one in four work in manufacturing and others are in homes and hotels, washing dishes, chopping vegetables, cleaning and scrubbing floors.
Children may be sold for a few hundred rupees by desperate parents, sometimes for more than 100,000 rupees($1,540) by profit-hungry agents, according to child rights campaigners.
"On Monday, we rescued a child from the home of a former minister," said Jumtum Minga, who runs a helpline for children in Arunachal Pradesh's capital Itanagar."Like him, most employers are influential people, many in government. They all employ children because they don't have to pay them anything. Children are not demanding and so owners treat them as private property."
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