In order to keep them able to work for low wages.
The article leaves a lot to be desired. For example:
Sri Lanka is caught up in a catch-22 situation in relation to female migrant workers. On one hand, the absence from their homes has led to many social consequences like lack of parental guidance for their children, husbands going astray and many other issues. Then, on the other hand, they need the money and the independence to make decisions, which is their right. No one can take that away from them although the debate continues as to whether women should be allowed or not to work as domestics in the Middle East in the light of the problems they face.
There’s debate as to whether they should be allowed to work as domestics in the Middle East? How about promoting worker’s rights instead, so that women can choose gainful, non-abusive employment if they need to support their families? According to the HRW report, Sri Lankan migrant workers face a wide variety of problems:
More than 660,000 Sri Lankan women work abroad as domestic workers, nearly 90 percent in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon. Human Rights Watch found that labor agents in Sri Lanka charge excessive fees that leave migrants heavily indebted, and often misinform them about their jobs. Once abroad, domestic workers typically labor for 16 to 21 hours a day, without rest breaks or days off, for extremely low wages of 15 to 30 US cents per hour. Some domestic workers told Human Rights Watch how they were subjected to forced confinement, food deprivation, physical and verbal abuse, forced labor, and sexual harassment and rape by their employers.
Human Rights Watch found that employers routinely confiscate domestic workers’ passports, confine them to the workplace, and in many cases restrict their communication, even with their embassy. Some employers also withhold wages for months to years at a time. In the worst cases, the combination of these practices traps Sri Lankan domestic workers in forced labor.
Migrant and low-wage workers are abused the world over. Check out the report.