Asian Domestic Workers Fight Abuses
亞洲外籍傭人反虐待
From VOA Learning English, this is the Economics Report.
這里是美國之音慢速英語經(jīng)濟報道。
Many migrant women go to work in private homes as cleaners, cooks and caretakers. They are called domestic workers.
許多外籍婦女到私人家庭擔任清潔工、廚師和護工。她們被稱為外籍傭人。
Recently, several incidents in Asia and the Middle East have brought attention to abuse of these workers. A court in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia sentenced a married couple to death in March for starving to death a 26-year-old Indonesian domestic worker.
最近,亞洲和中東的一些事件引發(fā)了人們對這些傭人受虐待的關(guān)注。今年三月,馬來西亞吉隆坡的一家法院判處一對夫婦死刑,因為他們餓死了26歲的印尼籍傭人。
Another Indonesian maid, 23-year-old Erwiana Sulistyaningsih says she was abused as a worker in a home in Hong Kong. She spent almost a month in a hospital receiving treatment for her injuries. Pictures of those injuries and reports of her 20-hour workdays caused national anger.
另一位23歲的印尼女傭Erwiana Sulistyaningsih表示,她在香港一個家庭擔任傭人時受到了虐待。因為受傷,她花了近一個月時間在醫(yī)院接受治療。那些受傷的照片以及她每天工作20個小時的報道引起了全國的憤怒。
The International Labor Organization, or ILO is a United Nations agency. It suggests there are 50 million homeworkers globally. Around 5 million Indonesian women worked in other countries last year. They sent almost $10 billion back to their families. But labor rights supporters say these migrant workers can be targets of abuse.
國際勞工組織(簡稱ILO)是一家聯(lián)合國機構(gòu)。該機構(gòu)提出,全球有5000萬傭人。去年有500萬左右的印尼婦女在他國打工。她們往家寄回了近100億美元。但勞工權(quán)利支持者表示,這些外籍傭人可能會成為被虐待的目標。
Audrey Guichon is with Anti-Slavery International. She says the foreign labor program in the Middle East called the kafala system can leave workers open to abuse.
Audrey Guichon就職于國際反奴役組織。她說中東被稱為卡法拉系統(tǒng)的外籍勞工計劃會讓勞工面臨虐待。
"The kafala system is in place across all countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, which basically ties migrants' employment and residency to one single employer." Guichon said.
她說,“卡法拉系統(tǒng)在所有海灣合作委員會國家都得到了應用。它將外籍人員的就業(yè)、居住同某個雇主捆綁了起來。”
In Saudi Arabia, 42 Indonesians are awaiting death sentences. Half of them are believed to be domestic workers. Darsem Tawar faced a death sentence in 2011 for killing her employer. She argued that he was raping her at the time. Officials changed her sentence only after her supporters paid the family of the dead man.
在沙特阿拉伯,42位印尼人正在等待死刑判決。據(jù)認為其中半數(shù)是外籍傭人。Darsem Tawar在2011年因為殺了雇主而面臨死刑。她辯護說,雇主當時要強奸她。有關(guān)官員在她的支持者賠償了死者家屬后才改判。
In April, the Indonesian government negotiated better conditions for its workers in Saudi Arabia. The agreement signals the end of Indonesia's three-year suspension of labor exports to the kingdom. However, critics say Indonesia must do more.
今年四月,印尼政府為其在沙特的傭人爭取到了更好的條件。該協(xié)議標志著印尼對沙特為期三年的暫緩勞務輸出的終結(jié)。然而,批評者稱,印尼要做的還很多。
The ILO approved Convention 189 on domestic labor in 2011. Support for the document on labor rights is building. But only 13 countries have approved or ratified the measure. One of them, the Philippines is the world's largest exporter of domestic labor and important supporter of Convention 189.
2011年,國際勞工組織通過了189號勞工公約。對該勞工權(quán)利文件的支持正在建立中。但只有13個國家通過了該措施。其中之一的菲律賓是全球最大的外籍傭人輸出國以及189號公約的重要支持者。
Archana Kotecha is a legal expert at the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Liberty Asia. She says labor export can become similar to human trafficking, especially in developing countries like Bangladesh and Burma, also known as Myanmar.
Archana Kotecha是非政府組織自由亞洲的法律專家。她說,勞務輸出可能會演變成類似于販賣人口,特別是在孟加拉國、緬甸等發(fā)展中國家。
And that is the Economics Report for VOA Learning English. I'm Mario Ritter.
以上就是本期美國之音慢速英語經(jīng)濟報道的全部內(nèi)容,我是馬里奧·里特(Mario Ritter)。
Asian Domestic Workers Fight Abuses
By VOA
08 May, 2014
From VOA Learning English, this is the Economics Report.
Many migrant women go to work in private homes as cleaners, cooks and caretakers. They are called domestic workers.
Recently, several incidents in Asia and the Middle East have brought attention to abuse of these workers. A court in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia sentenced a married couple to death in March for starving to death a 26-year-old Indonesian domestic worker.
Another Indonesian maid, 23-year-old Erwiana Sulistyaningsih says she was abused as a worker in a home in Hong Kong. She spent almost a month in a hospital receiving treatment for her injuries. Pictures of those injuries and reports of her 20-hour workdays caused national anger.
The International Labor Organization, or ILO is a United Nations agency. It suggests there are 50 million homeworkers globally. Around 5 million Indonesian women worked in other countries last year. They sent almost $10 billion back to their families. But labor rights supporters say these migrant workers can be targets of abuse.
Audrey Guichon is with Anti-Slavery International. She says the foreign labor program in the Middle East called the kafala system can leave workers open to abuse.
"The kafala system is in place across all countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, which basically ties migrants' employment and residency to one single employer." Guichon said.
In Saudi Arabia, 42 Indonesians are awaiting death sentences. Half of them are believed to be domestic workers. Darsem Tawar faced a death sentence in 2011 for killing her employer. She argued that he was raping her at the time. Officials changed her sentence only after her supporters paid the family of the dead man.
In April, the Indonesian government negotiated better conditions for its workers in Saudi Arabia. The agreement signals the end of Indonesia's three-year suspension of labor exports to the kingdom. However, critics say Indonesia must do more.
The ILO approved Convention 189 on domestic labor in 2011. Support for the document on labor rights is building. But only 13 countries have approved or ratified the measure. One of them, the Philippines is the world's largest exporter of domestic labor and important supporter of Convention 189.
Archana Kotecha is a legal expert at the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Liberty Asia. She says labor export can become similar to human trafficking, especially in developing countries like Bangladesh and Burma, also known as Myanmar.
And that is the Economics Report for VOA Learning English. I'm Mario Ritter.