Tag Archives: Rima Kalush

Events, Featured, News

Tadias Magazine Roundtable Discussion at National Press Club

Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff

Monday, December 16th, 2013

Washington, D.C. (TADIAS) — Tadias Magazine hosted a roundtable discussion on Ethiopian migrants in the Middle East at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. on Saturday, December 14th.

The roundtable discussion presented a panel of scholars, legal experts and civic society leaders from the Ethiopian and Middle Eastern communities who informed the audience about the status of Ethiopian migrant workers in gulf states using data and research to promote a continued dialogue on short and long-term solutions. A Q&A session followed panelist presentations.

Panelists included Jomo Tariku, developer of a crowdmapping website on domestic help abuse in the Middle East; scholar Khaled Beydoun who focused on international anti-trafficking protocols and the legal issues facing Ethiopian migrants working in Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and various gulf states; Dr. Maigenet Shifferaw, President of the Center for the Rights of Ethiopian Women (CREW) in Washington, DC; Kumera Genet, Huffington Post contributor who has written extensively on the status of Ethiopian migrants in the Middle East; Dawit Wolde Giorgis, Research Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington, D.C.; and Rima Kalush, Editor and Head Researcher for Bahrain-based Migrant-Rights.org.

Several media organizations attended the event including Deutsche Welle German Amharic radio program, Voice of America, EBS, and ESAT. We also extend our thanks to Ethiomedia.com who helped publicize the event.

Below is a video trailer and slideshow of the roundtable discussion.

Video: Tadias Roundtable on Ethiopian Migrants in the Middle East at National Press Club

Photos by Matt Andrea:

The following are tweets from the audience:

PANELIST BIOS

Jomo Tariku developed a crowdmapping site that documents domestic help abuse in the Middle East. Jomo is a voracious reader of current events around the world, a tinkerer of web technologies and a volunteer for various causes. He is also in the process of documenting Ethiopian (TimeLineEthiopia.com) and soon African stories using freely available data and data visualization tools. Jomo was born to Ethiopian parents in Kenya in 1968. He was named after Jomo Kenyatta, founder of the Kenyan nation. Jomo completed his higher education in Industrial Design (BFA) at the University of Kansas. After almost 10 years of operating a design studio in Washington, DC, Jomo joined The World Bank as a Publishing Officer/Designer in 2011. In his spare time he is an advocate of peaceful means of solving difficult problems. Jomo is married with two sons and lives in Springfield, VA.

Khaled A. Beydoun’s insight on domestic and international legal matters has been featured on television and radio, including CNN, NPR, MSNBC, Al-­Jazeera, Voice America, and the Washington Post. Professor Beydoun’s scholarship focuses on immigration law, criminal law, critical race theory, and legal history. His research interests focus on the intersection of race and religion in criminal and immigration law. Professor Beydoun earned his J.D. from UCLA School of Law, and holds a B.A., with distinction, from the University of Michigan. In addition, he earned an LL.M. with an emphasis on Islamic Law from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. Before joining UCLA School of Law as a Critical Race Studies Fellow, Professor Beydoun practiced in the areas of criminal law and civil rights advocacy. He served as an Appellate Defense attorney for the State Appellate Defender of Michigan, and served as a Racial Justice Fellow with the ACLU of Michigan. In addition, Professor Beydoun also served as the Middle East & North Africa Legal Analyst for the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative in Washington, D.C. Professor Beydoun’s work has been featured in the Berkeley Journal of International Law, the Michigan Journal of Race and Law, the Journal of Islamic Law and Culture, and his forthcoming work will be featured in the NYU Survey of American Law.

Maigenet Shifferraw is currently the president of the Center for the Rights of Ethiopian Women (CREW) in Washington, DC. Dr. Maigenet earned her Ph.D. in education from the University of Wisconsin­, Milwaukee in 1982. She was an Associate Professor in adult education at the Department of Education at the University of the District of Columbia for twenty years. She has served as a consultant in education at the World Bank, the US Department of Education and other institutions. She has been a women’s rights advocate for the last thirty five years.

Kumera Genet blogs about African migrant issues for the Huffington Post and has built relationships with Lebanese and Arab American activists who support legal, economic, and cultural change in the Middle East to respect migrant workers. Kumera is originally from Austin, Texas, and has been living and working in the DC area for the past 6 years. He has worked in various youth serving organizations and non-­profits focusing on job readiness training, immigrant rights, parental engagement in education and community organizing.

Dawit Wolde Giorgis represents the newly formed global alliance on the issue of Ethiopian migrants in the Middle East. He is a Research Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington, D.C.

Rima Kalush is the current editor and head researcher of Migrant-rights.org, a platform dedicated to advancing migrants’ rights throughout the Middle East. She has several years of research experience in diverse fields, ranging from North African history to California politics. Her pieces have been republished by digital journals including Jadaliyya, and her research has been referenced by institutions such as Gender Across Borders and the Institute for Global Labour Rights.

—
Roundtable Discussion on Ethiopian Migrants in the Middle East
National Press Club
Saturday, December 14, 2013 from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM (EST)
529 14th Street Northwest, Murrow Conference Room
Washington, DC 20045

Join the conversation on Twitter and Facebook.

Interviews

Interview With Rima Kalush

Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff

Published: Sunday, November 17th, 2013

New York (TADIAS) — “Migrants who overstay their visas still have human rights,” says Rima Kalush, a member of www.migrant-rights.org, a Bahrain-based advocacy group established in 2007 to document abuse as well as to engage both Gulf citizens and migrants in a dialogue on the spectrum of their issues. “We also try to connect migrant workers in distress to individuals and organizations on the ground,” Rima stated in a recent interview with Tadias Magazine regarding the recent violence in Saudi Arabia and what could be done to bring about a lasting solution to this long-festering crisis.

“The amnesty period does not justify the current crackdown on migrants, Rima added. “Undocumented migrants still have rights, including the right to contest their status on a case-by-case basis with access to a lawyer and translator.”

The random raids, Rima noted, are psychologically harmful, and expose even legal migrants to unnecessary physical danger and trauma. “The Saudi government has not fulfilled its promise to respect the rights of workers during the implementation of the Nitaqat,” She said. “Origin countries, such as Ethiopia, must also provide migrants with the means to contest their cases as well as the means for quick processing of documents and repatriation.” Rima pointed out that ultimately the big elephant in the room in this case is the legal responsibility of their home government.

“Domestic workers can be trafficked in different ways; some are trafficked in the sense that they are misled about the conditions of their employment, and then are unable to leave exploitative working conditions,” Rima said. “Others can be trafficked once they are in the country, sometimes by recruiting agents themselves.”

According to the U.N., there are over 600,000 forced laborers throughout the Middle East. “Unfortunately, this form of trafficking is not often recognized by GCC governments, who prefer to focus on sex trafficking,” Rima said. “They also face very limited access to legal recourse. Firstly, it can be physically difficult for domestic workers to obtain legal representation; they often would have to first escape their place of employment, enter into an irregular status, find refuge in an embassy shelter (which can be very far from their place of residence).”

Rima emphasized that engaging in the dialogue about migrant rights on the ground is critical. “It is often non-migrants at home who advocate for and secure rights for these abroad citizens,” she said.

Migrants in general, particularly domestic workers, also have difficulty securing financial support for lawyers and translators. “If they do overcome these obstacles, they generally face an unsympathetic court system,” she said. “They are often required to remain in the country throughout the trial, which can be prolonged for years. During this time it can be very difficult for them to find work, and they have to obtain official permission to do so. This means that domestic workers, who are often psychologically traumatized, often elect to return home instead — with none of the wages or compensation owed to them.”

In instances in which the court rules in favor of the domestic worker, enforcement of the ruling is often weak. “In many cases, particularly when the employee faces jail time in addition to a fine, the sentence is reduced,” Rima noted. “The virtual absence of penalization means employers are essentially empowered to treat domestic workers as they wish. Though many employers do treat domestic workers well, there are simply too few protections against those who do not.”

Asked about the challenges and rewards of advocating for migrant labor rights in the Middle East, Rima highlighted that government policies are very difficult to change. “It means that our efforts are primarily directed at changing social attitudes towards migrants,” she said. “Over the past few years, we have seen in op-eds and other articles the start of a real shift in popular conceptions of migrant laborers and domestic workers.”

She noted that another challenge they face is the digital divide. “A lot of migrant workers don’t have access to the Internet, and consequently to us, to amplify their voices. However, many will work through family members in origin countries who then contact us or use social media to elevate their stories.”

What’s her view on the tens of thousands of Ethiopians that at the moment are stuck in Saudi Arabia? “They must be allowed the opportunity to contest their status, if they are detained they must be provided with humane conditions, and they must be provided with access to lawyers and translators,” she said. “They are also entitled to speedy repatriation and the opportunity to collect potential unpaid wages from employers.”

Rima said they are currently working on a campaign to formalize rights for domestic workers, to ensure adequate heat protection for laborers and to end medical discrimination against migrants.

“We are also always looking for contributions in the form of opinion pieces or experiences, which critically shape narratives of migrant and human rights discourses,” Rima said. That is one way we can all get involved to start bringing about social change.

—
You can learn more about the organization at www.migrant-rights.org.

Related:
NYC Ethiopians Make Presence Felt at the Saudi Mission to the United Nations (TADIAS)
Ethiopians demonstrate outside Saudi embassy in London (BBC News)
The Ethiopian Migrant Crisis in Saudi Arabia: Taking Accountability (Tadias Editorial)
Ethiopians Continue Peaceful Protests Against Migrant Abuse in Saudi Arabia (TADIAS)
Photos: Ethiopians Hold Protest Outside Saudi Embassy in Washington, D.C. (TADIAS)
Ethiopians: #SomeoneTellSaudiArabia to Stop Crackdown (Global Voices)
First group of Ethiopians from Saudi arrive in Addis (ERTA)
23,000 Ethiopians ‘Surrender’ in Saudi After Clamp Down (BBC)
Three Ethiopians Killed in Saudi Arabia Visa Crackdown (AFP)

Join the conversation on Twitter and Facebook.