Migrant domestic workers in Arab nations are dying – it's time to act

The suicide of an Ethiopian domestic worker in Lebanon highlights the abuse of migrants given no rights or safeguards

Tourists cool off in a pool in Beirut, but anti-racism campaigners say Lebanon also has a darker side. Photograph: Joseph Barrak/AFP/Getty Images

The Lebanese Anti-Racism Movement is organising a "die-in" this Saturday in Beirut and London, with protesters lying in front of the Lebanese embassy to highlight the maltreatment of migrant domestic workers.

While several local organisations have been working tirelessly for some years to bring attention to the plight of migrant workers, the aim of this protest is to push the Lebanese government into measureable positive action.

The recent suicide of an Ethiopian domestic worker, Alem Dechasa, who had suffered a very public beating from her employer in front of the Ethiopian consulate that she had been trying to escape to, was the latest case to generate public outcry and a call for action.

Support for migrant domestic workers has also come from several international organisations. In 2010 Human Rights Watch criticised the Lebanese judiciary's failure to hold abusive employers accountable and last year the International Labour Organisation's (ILO) adoption of a convention on domestic workers set the first international labour standards for such workers. But the convention's efficacy is only guaranteed once member states ratify it – none has yet done so.

Ethiopia's women - Maid in Ethiopia

IN LATE February 2012, Alem Dechasa, an Ethiopian maid working in Lebanon, was video-taped being beaten and dragged into a car. On March 14th, she committed suicide. Her story has drawn attention once again to the plight of migrant workers in the Middle East. But Ms Alem’s fate has also highlighted a more unpleasant side of Ethiopia’s impressive growth story.

Ethiopia’s economy is based on small-scale agriculture. More than 85% of the country’s 80m people live in the countryside. Most have limited or no access to such basics as clean drinking water, health-care facilities and education. Helen Gebresillassie, a lawyer who teaches at Stony Brook University’s School of Social Welfare in New York and a former legal advisor to the Forum on Street Children in Ethiopia, an NGO, says that high inflation and market inefficiencies keep most farming household incomes so low that everyone must work, including children. When children are sent to school, parents worry about their daughters’ safety getting there. More often boys get to study while girls are expected to do housework or get married.

With little education, young women in rural Ethiopia struggle to compete in the labour market. The only realistic employment opportunity for most of them is more of the same domestic work they have done their whole lives.

Ms Alem’s case is not uncommon, explains Ms Gebresillassie. Traffickers specifically target uneducated and poor young women from rural areas in order to lure them to big cities in Ethiopia and the Middle East, she continues. That combined with the cultural expectation that children must help support their entire family means that young women are easy prey for traffickers’ with their empty promises of higher income and a better life.

The Economist Intelligence Unit, our sister organisation, forecasts real GDP growth of 8% for Ethiopia in the fiscal year 2011/2012, mostly due to hikes in agricultural prices. That eclipses the OECD’s predictions of less than 2% GDP growth for the same period. That bodes well for the country’s future, but Ethiopia’s government will need to ensure that growth rates are sustainable by cultivating one of the country’s most valuable resources—its women.

http://www.economist.com

Ruth Negga Ethio-Irish Movie Celebrity On The Samaritan

Ruth Negga with the award for Best Actress in Television for Shirley in the Winners Room at the Irish Film and Television Awards 2012 at the Dublin Convention Centre on February 11, 2012 in Dublin, Ireland

If you keep on doing what you have always done…You keep on being what you always been. Nothing changes unless you make it change.”

Abby Minda[MT]:Ruth Negga is a famous Holywood movie star. She was born in 1982 in Dublin, Ireland. Ruth has an Irish mother and Ethiopian father.

She was nominated for a 2004 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Most Promising Newcomer of 2003 in a Society of London Theatre Affiliate Theatre for her performance in Duck at the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs at the Jerwood Court.

She has been chosen as the Irish Shooting Star for the Berlin Film Festival.

Ruth Negga has starred in Irish films such as Capital Letters (2004), Isolation (2005) and Breakfast On Pluto (2005).

The Samaritan 2012

”If you keep on doing what you have always done…You keep on being what you always been. Nothing changes unless you make it change.”

 is the inspirational quote used to show the major theme of the movie.

IFC Films has debuted the official trailer for The Samaritan, a new dramatic thriller starring Samuel L. Jackson as a former grifter fresh out of prison, looking to take his life on a new path. But he meets another young woman /RUTH NEGGA The young half Ethiopian Half Irish Blood actress. / And things get a bit out of hand when he gets in with the wrong guy.

The cast includes Luke Kirby, Ruth Negga, Tom Wilkinson, Aaron Poole and Martha Burns. This trailer reveals a big plot twist, unnecessarily I’d say, and makes it almost look like The Game meets Death Sentence.

The movie depicts how Ruth is becoming a famous and successful movie star from the beginning and I hope she has a lot to offer for the Hollywood cinema industry.

Ruth Negga is awarded for Best Actress in Television for Shirley in the Winners Room at the Irish Film and Television Awards 2012 at the Dublin Convention Centre on February 11, 2012 in Dublin, Ireland.
/www.maledatimes.com

             
                             
                                         The Samaritan (2012)

አለማየሁ ቴውድሮስ ስደተኛው ልዑል

አባቱ በእንግሊዞች እጅ መውደቅን የጠሉት ለህይወታቸው ሳይሳሱ ቀርተው አልነበረም፡፡በንጉሰ ነገስትነታቸው ግን የኢትዮጵያ ልዕልናም ጉዳይ ሆኖባቸው እንጂ፡፡አጤ ቴውድሮስ በመቅደላ ሲወድቁ ከሁለተኛ ባለቤታቸው እቴጌ ጥሩወርቅ የሚወለደው ልዑል አለማየሁ እድሜው ስምንት ብቻ ነበር፡፡ራሳም ለጄኔራል ሜርዌዘር በላከው ወታደራዊ የሚስጥር መልዕክት የዘውዱን ወራሽ አግኝቼዋለሁ አለ፡፡ ልዑል አለማየሁም ከእናቱ እቴጌ ጥሩወርቅ ጋር በእንግሊዞች እጅ ወደቀ፡፡ጄኔራል ናፒር ከእቴጌ ጥሩወርቅ(የደጃች ውቤ ልጅ) ጋር ባደረገው ስምምነት መሰረት አጤ ቴውድሮስን በቅርበት ያውቃቸው ለነበረው እና አማርኛን አቀላጥፎ ለሚናገረው ካፒቴን ጄ.ሲ. ስፒዲ ተሰጠ፡፡ስለ ስፒዲ ብዙ የሚታወቅ ነገር ባይኖርም ከአውስትራሊያ የናፒርን የመቅደላ ዘመቻ እንዲቀላቀል እንደተላከ ይነገራል፡፡ናፒርም አማርኛን አቀላጥፎ የሚናገር ሰው በማግኘቱ ደስተኛ ሳይሆን አይቀርም፡፡

አጤ ቴውድሮስ ልጃቸው እንግሊዝን እንዲጎበኝ ከፍተኛ ምኞት እንደነበራቸው የልዑል አለማየሁን ታሪክ የፃፉ እንግሊዛውያን ይናገራሉ፡፡እነ ናፒር ልዑል አለማየሁ ከእናቱ እቴጌ ጥሩወርቅ፤ከመምህሩ አለቃ ዛራት የእናቱ አጃቢ ገብረመድህን ጋር ሆኖ ከሃገሩ እንዲወጣ አደረጉ፡፡በመንገድ ላይ እናቱ እቴጌ ጥሩወርቅ ከዚህ አለም በሞት ተለዩ፡፡በመጨረሻዋ የህይወታቸው ቅፅበት ግን ስፒዲ ልዑል አለማየሁን እንደ አባት ሆኖ እንዲያሳድገው ቃል አስገቡት፡፡በአጭር ጊዜ ልዑል አለማየሁ አባቱንም እናቱንም በሞት ተነጠቀ፡፡ወደማያውቀው ሀገርም እንዲሰደድ ሆነ፡፡የስዊዝ ካናልን እንደተሸገሩ የልዑል አለማየሁ መምህር እና አጃቢ ጠፉ፡፡ጄኔራል ናፒር ወደ ሃገራቸው እንዲመለሱ ሳያደርግ አልቀረም፡፡ከዚያን ጊዜ ጀምሮ አንድም የሚያውቀው ሰው በአጠገቡ ያልነበረው ልዑል አለማየሁ ከስፒዲ ጋር የጠበቀ ወዳጅነት መሰረተ፡፡ልዑሉ ከፍተኛ ሀዘን እና ጭንቀት ነበረበት፤ለመተኛት ይቸገራል፡፡ምናልባትም በመቅደላ የተመለከተው ሽብር የእናቱ እና አባቱ ሞት የፈጠረበት ሀዘንም እጅጉን ሳይከብደው አልቀረም፡፡ንግስት ቪክቶሪያ ስፒዲ ነገረኝ በማለት በለት ማስታወሻዋ ላይ “that the poor child has a recollection of the horrid massacre of captives by his father’s orders and having heard their shrieks” ስትል አስፍራለች፡፡

እንግሊዝ እንደ ደረሱ ስፒዲ ወደሚኖርበት ኢዝል ኦፍ ዊት ይዞት ሄደ፡፡ንግስት ቪክቶሪያ የልዑል አለማየሁን መያዝ ከሰማች ጀምሮ የተለየ ፍላጎት አሳድራነበር እና እንደ እናት እንክብካቤ እዲደረግለት ትዕዛዝ ሰጥታ ነበር፡፡ንግስት ቪክቶሪያ ኢትዮጵያዊውን ልዑል እጅግ ወዳው ስለነበር በተደጋጋሚ ወደ ቤተምንግስት ታስጠራው ነበር፡፡የግል ማስታወሻዋ ልዑሉን ማየት የፈጠረላትን ስሜት እንዲህ ይናገራል፡፡”just after luncheon saw the little Alamayou in his picturesque Abyssinian dress, gave the dear little boy a watch and chain.”

ካፒቴን ስፒዲ በህንድ ጦር ሰራዊት በሚያገለግልበት ወቅት ልዑል አለማየሁ አብሮት ተጉዟል፡፡በህንድ በነበረበት ወቅት ዋና ተምሮም ነበር፡፡እንደ ስፒዲ አባባል የባህር ዳርቻ የአየር ጠባይ ለልዑሉ የተመቸ በመሆኑ ደስተኛ እና ቀልጣፋም ሆነ፡፡ልዑል አለማየሁ በእንግሊዝ እንክብካቤ ቢበዛለትም ሙሉ ህይወቱን ደስተኛ ሆኖ የኖረ አይመስልም፡፡በተለያዩ ጊዜያት ከንግስቷ በመጡ ትዕዛዞች የመኖሪያ አካባቢው ይቀያየር ነበር፡፡

I hope you are quite well. I am sorry to say that Mr. Jex-Blake will not let me come to see the match. I have had a letter from Captain Speedy he says he went to India to some of the brave men from here and before he went to fight the Chinese, he asked the Raga of Caroot to ask them if they could have peace but they would not listen and so the Raga told CAPTAIN Speedy to go and take their forts and Captain Speedy and a hundred men went and took six of their forts and mud stockades and Captain Speedy said that the Chinese put sharp bamboo spikes and poisoned them and so the Malays were afraid to go near the forts, but the Indians did not care because they wore boots. What does Sir Stafford Northcote say about my going into the modern? I am going in for a junior race and I am getting on very well in my class.

 I May get the prize I am working very hard. If I stay at Cheltenham I will get my promotion but I should like to know what Sir Stafford Northcote says about it.’

                                  ከልዑል አለማየሁ ደብዳቤዎች አንዱ

ልዑል አለማየሁ በእንግሊዝ በተማረባቸው ትምህርት ቤቶች የነበሩ መምህራን ሁሉ መልካም ወዳጆች ሆነውለታል፡፡እርሱ ግን ከትምህርት ይልቅ ለስፖርት የተሻለ ፍቅር ነበረው፡፡እግር ኳስ እና ራግቢም ይጫወት ነበር፡፡መምህራኑ ወታደራዊ ሳይንስ እንዲያጠናም ግፊት አድርገዋል፡፡እናም እ.ኤ.አ. በመስከረም 1878 ወደ ሳንድረስት ወታደራዊ ትምህርት ቤት ካለ ፈተና እንዲገባ ተደረገ፡፡በወታደራዊ ትምህርት ቤት ደስተኛም ሆነ ውጤታማ አልነበረም፡፡እናም ለእረፍት እንደወጣ አልተመለሰም፡፡አለማየሁ ከኢትዮጵያ ሁለት ደብዳቤዎች ደርሰውት ነበር፡፡አንዱ ከእናቱ እናት ወይም ከአያቱ ሲሆን የሁለተኛው ደብዳቤ ላኪ ማንነት አይታወቅም፡፡ሁለቱም ደብዳቤዎች የአለማየሁን መመለስ የሚናፍቁ ነበሩ፡፡

እ.ኤ.አ. በኖቬምበር 14 1879 በጥቂት ቀናት ህመም ከዚህ አለም በሞት ሲለይ እድሜው 19 ብቻ ነበር፡፡በንግስቷ ፈቃድ በዊንድሶር የቅዱስ ጊዮርጊስ ቤተመቅደስ የቀብር ስነስርዓቱ ተፈፀመ፡፡የኢትዮጵያ ሚሊኒየም ሲከበር የልዑል አለማየሁን አፅም ወደ ኢትዮጵያ ለማስመጣት ጥረት ተጀምሮ የነበረ ቢሆንም ስኬታማ አልሆነም፡፡ ልዑል አለማየሁ ቴዎድሮስ የተወለደው በዛሬዋ ቀን ሚያዝያ 16, 1853 ነበር፡፡

Ethiopian Woman arrested for stabbing her fiance

Yordanos Girmay Gebreegziabher, 31, of Ethiopia, was arrested in connection with first-degree domestic battering.

Police responding Thursday night to a reported stabbing at 3000 S. 28th Place found David Moore, Gebreegziabher's 49-year-old fiance, being treated by a neighbor for a stab wound in his side, according to the news release. Moore was taken to Mercy Medical Center for treatment.

http://www.arkansasonline.com

Ethiopian runner rules Jeddah Mobily Marathon

Open and Professional category winner Darji Tasfal Hewot receives his trophy from Jeddah Gov. Prince Mishaal bin Majed. Others in picture are Mazen Batarjee and Abdullah Bakhashab.

Under the patronage of Prince Mishal bin Majed, Jeddah governor and chairman of the Jeddah Mobily Marathon 2012 Higher Committee, the marathon awarding ceremony was held at Elaf Jeddah Hotel Wednesday, where winners received their prizes.

Participants reached 8,000, according to the organizers who said the size of the field has been increasingly growing each year. The event is annually organized by Al Birr Charitable Society.

First places in the three races received Mazda cars from Haji Husein Alireza and Co.Ltd. in addition to other cash and vouchers from sponsors.

Darji Tasfal Hewot from Ethiopia won the Open (18 above) and Professional category in the 21-kilometer race, finishing the distance in 66 minutes, while Abdullah Al-Bishri finished the distance in 92 minutes to top the Saudi category.

In the under-18 race, Ibrahim Hasan Muhammad from Chad ranked first finishing the 6-kilometer distance in 18 minutes; Muhammad Ismael Alsubiani was first among Saudis as he negotiated the distance in 20 minutes. In the special needs (wheelchair) race, Adam Ahmad Shareef won the first place, finishing the 3 kilometers in 10 minutes. Humoud Al-Ghubaini, Ittihad Ettisalat (Mobily) vice-president for Public Relations, announced the company will continue sponsoring the event in the coming years. “The marathon has become the biggest sport event in Jeddah and participants and private and government sponsors and supporters increase every year,” he said in a speech. “With the support of the government and businessmen the marathon can go international,” he added.

Thamer Shaker, Nesma’s director of Human Resources and Social Responsibility division, said the company looks to have full distance of 42.195 kilometers in future competition.  The annual sport-charity event first started nine years ago in cooperation with Nesma Holding CEO Saleh Al-Turki and Al Birr Society Chairman Mazen Batarjee. “The goal is to encourage organizations and companies to implement the concept of corporate social responsibility as well as encourage sports in the Kingdom,” he said.

The marathon proceeds will to go to the Al Bir Society to fund its charitable activities including sponsoring orphans and providing medical care for those in need, said Abdullah Bakhashab, head of the organizing committee. Bakhashab hoped to have a Saudi winner at the Open and Professional race.

“Every year international participants finish well ahead of Saudi runners,” he said. He reiterated Prince Mishal’s call for training Saudi runners to perform better in next events.
http://arabnews.com

THE PHENOMENAL! THE LIKEBALE, THE POPULIST, THE QUESTIONABLE

 Partygoers filled Laphto, a multipurpose fitness, entertainment, and shopping facility, on South Africa Street, a commercial centre adjacent to Bisrate Gabriel Church, to the brim in mid-January 2012. It was a concert by Hailemichael Getenet, fondly known by his fans as Haile Roots, whose first album Chiggae was an instant hit.

The concert drew an overwhelming number of fans, some had minor confrontations with police officers deployed at the gate, when they were told tickets were all sold out and space was not available. A little over 1,500 people were dancing to the tune of a vocalist whose brand is blending reggae with chikchika, a genre of music with roots from the north-western part of Ethiopia.

The crowd had on wait for the unscheduled appearance to the stage of what is today the most sensational musician of contemporary Ethiopia to be electrified. Fans of Tewodros Kassahun, a.k.a. Teddy Afro, were thrilled, while thousands of hands stretched to the skies.

The deafening roar muffled the music. Silhouetted on the glittering stage lights, he chanted his signature intro, “Addis Abeba . . . Ethiopia . . . Asmara . . .”

The intensity of the yell was amplified inside the hall. The fans complied with the signal he gave. With the microphone pointed at them so that they would sing, in unison, to the verses he started but left unfinished.

“Never have I seen a crowd go so wild,” said a middle-aged man who went on to see the concert mainly to accompany his two teenage sons.

A teenager of, perhaps, his sons’ age jumped over to the stage, took off his shirt, and hugged Teddy in full force. The stage bouncers rushed to jerk him off of the singer, who composed himself, instantly, and finished his first song.

A crowd far above the ground called his name for a minute long, again in unison, as if superbly composed by a professional conductor.