Migrant workers are trapped in Saudi Arabia because their children lack birth certificates
Migrant children without birth certificates are at risk of exploitation in Saudi Arabia, experts welcome progress on the EU forced labour ban but identify flaws, and campaigners urge the UK Government to investigate the treatment of unaccompanied child asylum seekers.
Hundreds of migrant workers are currently trapped in Saudi Arabia because their children do not have the documentation needed to allow them to return home. The children, who were born in Saudi Arabia to Kenyan mothers and are aged up to around 10 years old, require Saudi Arabian birth certificates in order to leave the country but cannot obtain them due to a combination of legal obstacles and issues with their mothers’ legal, civil and economic status.
Having a child out of wedlock is against the law in Saudi Arabia and birth certificates are not provided for children born outside marriage, despite the fact that birth registration is a human right recognized in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child – Saudi Arabia is a signatory to this agreement, as well as to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Furthermore, if a mother gives birth at home, she is required to take a DNA test to prove the child is hers, which further complicates the application for a birth certificate. Without certification, however, migrant workers and their children are trapped inside the country, with no way in which to navigate the legal complexities of their situation and return home.
Non-profit organization Do Bold, which supports migrant worker communities, is assisting the group and is currently in the process of gathering details on each case. So far, it appears that the majority of women have left their employer and, while the specific reasons for this are currently unknown, Do Bold says that exploitation is often the cause. Because immigration status is tied to employment, and migrant workers are mostly sponsored by recruitment agencies, leaving an employer is considered a criminal act and the agency will likely file a case against workers if they do so.
In this context, the best-case scenario for these families would be for children to be given their birth certificates despite the existing laws and regulations, and for an amnesty to be granted allowing women and children in this situation to go home. If this is not possible, and detainment and deportation offer the only route out, it would at least allow the children to begin a new life in Kenya with access to healthcare and education, says Do Bold. However, the deportation process would also require children to have Saudi Arabian birth certificates, thus landing families back at square one.
Stuck in limbo, the majority of women work without the proper documentation in order to support their children, while some families have no choice but to sleep on the streets. Without any means of protection, the children are vulnerable to sex and organ trafficking, illegal adoption, sexual assault, and other forms of exploitation and abuse.
While the Kenyan Embassy has assisted some of the group with DNA tests, the results have not yet been released, and Do Bold is currently investigating the delay in order to help the women obtain certification for their children. If this outcome is not achieved, it is planning to ask that the Embassy liaise with the Saudi Government in order to request an exemption and either provide birth certificates or grant an amnesty that would allow families to return home without them, by means of deportation if necessary. In this scenario, it would be crucial to ensure that any detainment period was kept to a minimum and that the children were properly supported during this time, and Do Bold would therefore monitor their detainment conditions.
Do Bold has helped families in a similar situation in the UAE, where non-payment of hospital bills amid unemployment and mounting immigration fines can lead to the withholding of birth certificates, and where giving birth at home – which is illegal – also requires access to a DNA test before certification. However, because having a child outside wedlock is no longer criminalized there, the process is much easier to navigate and many workers and their families have been able to go back to their home countries.
In the long term, addressing these challenges will involve reform of the discriminatory laws that prevent children obtaining birth certificates and those surrounding workers’ immigration and civil status; acknowledgment of children’s right to a birth certificate; and efforts to tackle the social stigma around single mothers and non-marital children. In the short term, however, freeing these families from this intractable process and allowing them to return home as soon as possible would offer them protection from further harm and exploitation, and enable them to build a future in their home country.
Here’s a round-up of other noteworthy news and initiatives:
Yesterday, the European Union Council and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement to ban the entry of products made with forced labour into the European single market. The Parliament and Council both have to give a final green light, and EU countries will thereafter have three years to start applying the new rules. However, experts note that CSOs have been excluded as sources of information on forced labour risks, that state-imposed forced labour is not fully addressed, and that remediation is voluntary and will not be required for a ban to be lifted.
Charities and campaigners are urging ministers to launch an inquiry into the treatment of unaccompanied children seeking asylum in the UK, prompted by a report revealing that basic safety checks in asylum hotels were neglected and that disturbing practices took place, such as games in which children were asked to guess who would be placed in foster care next. The Home Office says it has initiated an investigation into the “inappropriate behavior” of one of the workers.
Authorities from China, Thailand and Myanmar have coordinated the release and transfer of 1,200 people who had been trapped in scam compounds in Myanmar, the vast majority of them Chinese nationals. It is unclear whether those rescued will be recognized as victims of human trafficking, and they face possible arrest if they are deemed to have traveled to the scam compounds willingly.
This study uses blockchain analysis to examine the techniques used in “pig butchering” scams, revealing practices such as the use of multiple transactions, swapping cryptocurrencies through DeFi smart contracts, and bridging across blockchains. Perpetrators engage with major crypto exchanges, making thousands of small payments to build trust. Funds, mostly in Tether, exit the crypto network through less transparent exchanges such Binance, Huobi, and OKX, and appear to have recently moved around US$75.3 billion into suspicious accounts. The findings underscore the crypto industry’s role in enabling significant criminal capital flows and its link to trafficking-related activities.
Corporate Accountability Lab has joined 35 organizations to sign an open letter urging U.S. Customs and Border Protection to uphold a Withhold Release Order in response to sugar producer Central Romana’s failure to rectify forced labour issues.
Last week, the "AugroJatra" project, backed by U.S. Department of State funding, was launched as part of the Bangladesh Program to End Modern Slavery (B-PEMS). Implemented by Winrock International, the project targets the correlation between climate change and human trafficking, particularly among vulnerable populations in 11 districts of Bangladesh.
Join ILAB's virtual roundtable on 7 March at 10am EST, featuring representatives from Kenya and organizations such HAART Kenya and ILO, to discuss challenges and solutions for migrant domestic workers. Topics will include safe labour migration, embassy roles, repatriation, law enforcement, and support for trafficking survivors.
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