“Loving the Foreigner as the Native-Born” - The Human Rights and Welfare of Female Foreign Domestic Workers in Asia (original) (raw)

Abstract

In recent times, the gradual march of Globalization has facilitated a historically high traffic of female foreign domestic workers migration within Asia. However, the “native-born” hardly “love the foreigners” as they do themselves”; FDWs are treated as their status suggest – alien-ated with vastly inferior, circumscribed rights”. What is the reason for this failure to safeguard FDWs’ human rights and welfare? As we will see, the ‘public/private divide’ inherent in an international HR regime contributes to the discrimination of FDWs’ in Asia. Ultimately, in seeking a practical solution, we must answer the question of whether a HR law based approach is effective, if not adequate, in securing the rights and welfare of FDWs. This paper aspires to show that ultimately, notwithstanding its limitations, a HR law based approach is expedient – at least in tandem with complementary protection mechanisms – to secure the welfare and HR of FDWs in Asia. Part II delves briefly into a critical examination of the PPD vis-à-vis women’s rights (and hence) FDWs welfare. In Part III, the merits of a HR law based approach are highlighted. However, this approach also has its shortcomings, which will be discussed in Part IV. Part V offers concluding observations and suggests an amalgamation of various heterogeneous protection mechanisms, including HR law, is necessary to adequately and holistically secure the HR and welfare of FDWs in Asia.

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