Foreign domestic worker protests
As the number of foreign domestic workers continues to increase around the world, social movements to protect them have begun. The increase in social movements can be attributed to the rise of globalization, increased flows of migratory workers, and issues arising from the neoliberal management of workers. Repeated complaints and demands by pro-labor movements typically revolving around issues such as minimum wage and insurance coverage can be seen. These demands usually move away from a narrative of labor disputes and begin to encompass a human-rights perspective.
How these social movements manifest depends on the level of restrictions and autonomy given workers by employers and foreign governments. Although Hong Kong allows demonstrations and NGOs, the Middle East continues to outlaw such practices. This has led some workers to alternative forms of resistance.
Protesting outside one's home country is a relatively-new phenomenon, and scholars have noted that the potential to protest relies on a quasi-stateless nature. Although foreign domestic workers receive visas to live and work temporarily in their host country, they rarely become citizens or permanent residents of their country of employment.
East Asia
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is a major East Asian metropolis with industry, trade, and economic freedoms fueling its development. Because of a local, highly-skilled labor force, there has been an influx of migrant domestic workers to the Chinese special administrative region since it left British control. These workers were initially mainly Filipino, but Indonesians currently make up about half; workers from Nepal, Thailand, and Malaysia are a small minority.Because of the large number of foreign domestic workers and Hong Kong's democratic stances on freedom of speech and assembly, the region has become a center of protests. Hundreds of NGOs and labor unions have formed partnerships with international human-rights and labor organizations, such as Migrant International and the International Labour Organization.
Singapore
Although foreign domestic workers have been common in Singapore since before the state's independence, the number of protests is significantly less than in Hong Kong. Foreign construction workers have mobilized and improved their situation in similar issues, such as unfair wages. Singapore has had a mixed history with its foreign domestic-worker policy. Migration was restricted during the early post-independence era, but was later promoted by the government to influence Singaporean women to take skilled-labor jobs. Cases of mistreatment of foreign domestic workers exist, but they afford some benefits and protections.Middle East
The Middle East is an area of concern about the welfare of foreign domestic workers, who generally lack freedom of mobility and other rights. Under the Kafala system in many Middle Eastern countries, workers have been physically abused, overly controlled, and isolated.Lebanon
Foreign domestic workers in Lebanon, which uses the Kafala system, are primarily from Africa, Sri Lanka, India, and the Philippines. Because of Lebanon's strict laws about freedom of assembly and the illegality of unions and NGOs, it is difficult for workers to protest publicly. Instead, they go against their employers' and the state's wishes to increase their autonomy. Nominal or non- Christians ask employers for Sunday off to attend church, where they socialize, disseminate information, and gain a better understanding of how to improve their situation.Those with less freedom have balcony talks. Since Lebanon has many tall, residential buildings with small balconies, workers use the balconies as a refuge where they can talk with others about the same subjects as in a church setting. Some workers consider the balconies their own space, which is minimally monitored by employers.