An open letter
3 April 2015 Subject: An inquiry over the violation of Ethiopian domestic worker’s rights urged and recommendations for the protection of domestic workers ATT: UN Resident Coordinator in Thalland CC: 1. UN Secretary General 2. Prime Minister 3. Minister of Labour 4. Minister of Social Development and Human Security According to a report of Thai BBC on 1 April 2015, the Ethiopian domestic worker in the household of Dr. Yonas Tegegn, World Health Organization Representative to Thailand, has made serious allegations of exploitation and abuse against her employers. She has alleged that her wages had been withheld by her employers; that she was not given any holidays; that the housing given to her violated her dignity; that her passport had been seized; that she had been regularly subjected to physical assaults and that she was not given adequate food. These allegations relate to serious criminal offences of deprivation of liberty, kidnapping, misappropriation, slavery and human trafficking. The case highlights the plight of around 300,000 domestic workers in Thailand. They include migrant domestic workers who are doubly vulnerable because of their limited skills in Thai language and limited access to human rights protection mechanisms. Even though the Thai government has made attempts to revise the law to provide better protection to domestic workers, but the domestic workers who mostly live in the house of their foreign employers (including migrant workers such as in this case), and thus often cannot get in and out of the house of their employers freely, are not able to access the protection mechanisms of the State. They also have limited ability to access non-‐governmental organizations that can facilitate their access to the justice system. Most domestic workers can access the complaint mechanisms only after they are able to escape from the house of their employers. Apart from violation of their rights in work, many migrant workers are subjected to physical and psychological abuses that often cause lifelong damages. The Migrant Working Group, Network of Domestic Workers in Thailand and undersigned organizations have the following recommendations to make; 1. The United Nations and superior officers of Dr. Yonas Tegegn should promptly