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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/mar/07/government-rejects-call-scrap-uk-tied-visas-domestic-workers
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| Government rejects call to end UK tied visas for domestic workers | Government rejects call to end UK tied visas for domestic workers |
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| The government has rejected demands to end the overseas domestic worker “tied visa” system that is exposing thousands of women brought to Britain mainly by wealthy Gulf families to conditions of slavery and abuse. | The government has rejected demands to end the overseas domestic worker “tied visa” system that is exposing thousands of women brought to Britain mainly by wealthy Gulf families to conditions of slavery and abuse. |
| The immigration minister James Brokenshire told MPs on Monday that allowing overseas domestic workers (ODWs) to change jobs while they are in Britain will make it less likely they report abusive employers who then go on to “perpetuate a revolving door of abuse”. | |
| Instead the Home Office said it would introduce an “immediate escape route” by giving the 17,000 people brought to Britain each year on overseas domestic visas the right to switch employers within their first six months in the country. Ministers will also extend the period that those who are found to be victims of abuse can stay in the country from six months to two years. | |
| Related: UK visa policy ‘increasing abuse’ of foreign maids, says damning review | Related: UK visa policy ‘increasing abuse’ of foreign maids, says damning review |
| But ministers rejected the main finding of the Home Office-commissioned review by the barrister James Ewins of the tied visa, which was introduced in 2012. His review found “no evidence that a tie to single employer does anything other than increase the risk of abuse and therefore increases actual abuse”, and recommended workers should be allowed to change employer and be granted an additional two years’ stay in Britain for that purpose. | |
| “The government’s concern is that if ODWs were able to change employers and significantly prolong their stay, irrespective of whether they have reported this abuse and whether there is evidence that such abuse has taken place, they may be less likely to report abuse. This may perpetuate a revolving door of abuse in which perpetrators remain unidentified and free to bring other domestic workers to the United Kingdom with impunity,” Brokenshire told MPs. | “The government’s concern is that if ODWs were able to change employers and significantly prolong their stay, irrespective of whether they have reported this abuse and whether there is evidence that such abuse has taken place, they may be less likely to report abuse. This may perpetuate a revolving door of abuse in which perpetrators remain unidentified and free to bring other domestic workers to the United Kingdom with impunity,” Brokenshire told MPs. |
| The majority of the 17,000 overseas domestic visas issued last year were given to families from the Gulf states. Half of all visa applications were from families from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. They include nannies, chauffeurs, cooks and cleaners, who are allowed to come with the family for six months and then must go back with the family. | |
| In a Commons written ministerial statement, Brokenshire said that as part of the drive to empower the “victims of hidden crimes like modern slavery”, information, advice and support meetings would be set up for ODWs in Britain. | |
| Families and other employers who wish to bring ODWs to Britain will have to register, and part of that process will include allowing their staff to attend information meetings. They will also have to comply with UK employment law or risk losing their right to sponsor other ODWs. | Families and other employers who wish to bring ODWs to Britain will have to register, and part of that process will include allowing their staff to attend information meetings. They will also have to comply with UK employment law or risk losing their right to sponsor other ODWs. |
| Brokenshire said there would be additional protection for domestic staff working in diplomatic households, with the official mission having to sponsor the visa as well as the individual family. But ministers have not endorsed Ewins’ recommendation that ODWs should be employed by the foreign diplomatic mission rather than the family, saying it would still come under diplomatic immunity. | Brokenshire said there would be additional protection for domestic staff working in diplomatic households, with the official mission having to sponsor the visa as well as the individual family. But ministers have not endorsed Ewins’ recommendation that ODWs should be employed by the foreign diplomatic mission rather than the family, saying it would still come under diplomatic immunity. |
| The Ewins review published in December found that the “existence of a tie to a specific employer and the absence of a universal right to change employer and apply for extensions of the visa are incompatible with the reasonable protection of overseas domestic workers while in the UK”. | The Ewins review published in December found that the “existence of a tie to a specific employer and the absence of a universal right to change employer and apply for extensions of the visa are incompatible with the reasonable protection of overseas domestic workers while in the UK”. |