DUBAI // The issue of maids running away from their sponsors is a tricky one for law enforcement and humanitarian agencies.
Thousands abscond every year, many pursued by claims they stole from or otherwise harmed their sponsors. In one four-month stretch last year, 1,094 were arrested in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, police said.
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Yet experts say many maids flee their sponsors because of mistreatment or because they are misled by compatriots who tell them they can work illegally for more money and more freedom. At worst, a runaway maid can be tricked into becoming an illegal worker, then blackmailed into servitude.
Contract substitution, where maids are promised one thing in their home country but receive worse terms after arriving in the UAE, is also a major problem.
Maids speak of ugly details that made them run away from their sponsors, including mistreatment, molestation and rape.
"We are clueless about what to do if we were abused," said AJ, 19, who said she ran away from her employer in Al Ain after his wife tortured her.
If a household worker runs away from her employer because she was physically abused, she has the right to file a criminal case against her employer. The police will call the employer to investigate, according to Ophelia Almenario, the welfare officer at the Philippine overseas labour office in Abu Dhabi.
Many embassies offer shelter for workers who have fled abuse. The Indonesian embassy is looking after about 75 maids, and the Filipino embassy often has more than 100, for whom it provides food, shelter, and repatriation assistance.
Obaid Ali Obaid from Jaafar Alwan, Al Jaziri and Associates Advocates and Legal Consultants, said a maid who has been abused should turnfirst to the police, then to her embassy.
"If there marks of abuse on her body that will back up her case," he said, adding that any witnesses will bolster her arguments.
Because not all types of abuse leave marks, he added, going to the police station or her country's embassy is crucial to getting her story on the record.
The process is less harrowing when the mistreatment is financial rather than physical.
If a maid leaves because she has not been paid for more than a month, she can file a complaint directly to immigration officials. If the employer agrees to pay the worker, she must return.
Maids in that situation can also seek help from their embassy; welfare officers can contact the employer directly to seek a resolution.
If an employer reports to immigration officials that a maid has run away, the employer must surrender the maid's passport to immigration officials and provide a one-way ticket to her home country.
LA, a 51-year-old Pakistani, said she worked for a couple who were tough with her.
"They became even tougher when I befriended their three-year-old son," she said.
When she defended the boy after his mother beat him, the couple became furious, she said.
The 37-year-old husband restrained her while the 26-year-old wife burnt her hands with a heated spoon. And eventually she was pushed from a second-floor window, suffering two broken legs.
She said she returned after being paid Dh5,000 and told she would be treated better.
Soon afterwards she was beaten again - so she fled, she said.
In December, the Abu Dhabi Government required all maids reported as runaways to be processed for deportation at a centre in Al Wathba prison, with the aim of speeding up repatriation.
And on June 16 in Geneva, the UAE voted for the ILO Convention 189 and Recommendation 201 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers. Embassies said support for the charter would mean better employment conditions for thousands of housemaids and nannies.
Mr Munder said the charter addressed problems commonly encountered by domestic staff such as non-payment of wages, overwork and contract substitution.
The agreement promises clearly defined conditions of employment, a monthly salary paid in cash, at least a day off every week, freedom of association and collective bargaining.
It also requires governments to regulate private employment agencies, investigate complaints and stop employers from deducting recruitment fees from maids' wages.
Alexandru Chitoran (ROM) v Hussein Fakhir Abed (SYR)
Catch 74kg
Tohir Zhuraev (TJK) v Omar Hussein (JOR)
Strawweight (Female)
Weronika Zygmunt (POL) v Seo Ye-dam (KOR)
Featherweight
Kaan Ofli (TUR) v Walid Laidi (ALG)
Lightweight
Leandro Martins (BRA) v Abdulla Al Bousheiri (KUW)
Welterweight
Ahmad Labban (LEB) v Sofiane Benchohra (ALG)
Bantamweight
Jaures Dea (CAM) v Nawras Abzakh (JOR)
Lightweight
Mohammed Yahya (UAE) v Glen Ranillo (PHI)
Lightweight
Alan Omer (GER) v Aidan Aguilera (AUS)
Welterweight
Mounir Lazzez (TUN) Sasha Palatnikov (HKG)
Featherweight title bout
Romando Dy (PHI) v Lee Do-gyeom (KOR)
The biog
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INFO
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Emergency phone numbers in the UAE
Estijaba – 8001717 – number to call to request coronavirus testing
Ministry of Health and Prevention – 80011111
Dubai Health Authority – 800342 – The number to book a free video or voice consultation with a doctor or connect to a local health centre
Emirates airline – 600555555
Etihad Airways – 600555666
Ambulance – 998
Knowledge and Human Development Authority – 8005432 ext. 4 for Covid-19 queries
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6.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh 82,500 (Dirt) 1.600m
7.05pm: Maiden (TB) Dh 82,500 (D) 2,000m
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8.50pm: The Entisar Listed (TB) Dh 132,500 (D) 2,000m
9.25pm: Conditions (TB) Dh 120,000 (D) 1,400m
Sinopharm vaccine explained
The Sinopharm vaccine was created using techniques that have been around for decades.
“This is an inactivated vaccine. Simply what it means is that the virus is taken, cultured and inactivated," said Dr Nawal Al Kaabi, chair of the UAE's National Covid-19 Clinical Management Committee.
"What is left is a skeleton of the virus so it looks like a virus, but it is not live."
This is then injected into the body.
"The body will recognise it and form antibodies but because it is inactive, we will need more than one dose. The body will not develop immunity with one dose," she said.
"You have to be exposed more than one time to what we call the antigen."
The vaccine should offer protection for at least months, but no one knows how long beyond that.
Dr Al Kaabi said early vaccine volunteers in China were given shots last spring and still have antibodies today.
“Since it is inactivated, it will not last forever," she said.
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Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
What is a black hole?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
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2010: Accrington Stanley FC, internship
2010-2012: Crystal Palace, performance analyst with U-18 academy
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2015-2017: Nottingham Forest, head of recruitment
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Water waste
In the UAE’s arid climate, small shrubs, bushes and flower beds usually require about six litres of water per square metre, daily. That increases to 12 litres per square metre a day for small trees, and 300 litres for palm trees.
Horticulturists suggest the best time for watering is before 8am or after 6pm, when water won't be dried up by the sun.
A global report published by the Water Resources Institute in August, ranked the UAE 10th out of 164 nations where water supplies are most stretched.
The Emirates is the world’s third largest per capita water consumer after the US and Canada.
MATCH INFO
Manchester United 6 (McTominay 2', 3'; Fernandes 20', 70' pen; Lindelof 37'; James 65')
Leeds United 2 (Cooper 41'; Dallas 73')
Man of the match: Scott McTominay (Manchester United)
JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH
Directed by: Shaka King
Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Lakeith Stanfield, Jesse Plemons
Four stars
PROFILE OF STARZPLAY
Date started: 2014
Founders: Maaz Sheikh, Danny Bates
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment/Streaming Video On Demand
Number of employees: 125
Investors/Investment amount: $125 million. Major investors include Starz/Lionsgate, State Street, SEQ and Delta Partners
Bharatanatyam
A ancient classical dance from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Intricate footwork and expressions are used to denote spiritual stories and ideas.
New schools in Dubai
Results
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2.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh68,000 (D) 1,200m, Winner: Honourable Justice, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer
3pm: Handicap (TB) Dh84,000 (D) 1,200m, Winner: Dahawi, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi
3.30pm: Conditions (TB) Dh100,000 (D) 1,200m, Winner: Dark Silver, Fernando Jara, Ahmad bin Harmash
4pm: Maiden (TB) Dh60,000 (D) 1,600m, Winner: Dark Of Night. Antonio Fresu, Al Muhairi.
Reigning Abu Dhabi World Pro champion in the 95kg division, virtually unbeatable in her weight class. Known for her pressure game but also dangerous with her back on the mat.
Nathiely de Jesus, 23, (Brazil)
Two-time World Pro champion renowned for her aggressive game. She is tall and most feared by her opponents for both her triangles and arm-bar attacks.
Thamara Ferreira, 24, (Brazil)
Since her brown belt days, Ferreira has been dominating the 70kg, in both the World Pro and the Grand Slams. With a very aggressive game.
Samantha Cook, 32, (Britain)
One of the biggest talents coming out of Europe in recent times. She is known for a highly technical game and bringing her A game to the table as always.
Kendall Reusing, 22, (USA)
Another young gun ready to explode in the big leagues. The Californian resident is a powerhouse in the -95kg division. Her duels with Pessanha have been highlights in the Grand Slams.
Martina Gramenius, 32, (Sweden)
Already a two-time Grand Slam champion in the current season. Gramenius won golds in the 70kg, in both in Moscow and Tokyo, to earn a spot in the inaugural Queen of Mats.
Funding: Raised $5.8m in a seed fund round in December 2018. Backers include Y Combinator, Beco Capital, Venturesouq, Paul Graham, Peter Thiel, Paul Buchheit, Justin Mateen, Matt Mickiewicz, SOMA, Dynamo and Global Founders Capital
FIGHT CARD
1. Featherweight 66kg
Ben Lucas (AUS) v Ibrahim Kendil (EGY)
2. Lightweight 70kg
Mohammed Kareem Aljnan (SYR) v Alphonse Besala (CMR)