OHRC slams panel report on maids

Responding to a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report about the treatment of Tanzanian domestic workers in the Sultanate and a neighbouring country, Oman Human Rights Commission (OHRC) said the ill-treatment to domestic workers in Oman is “not a phenomenon and objectivity should have been upheld when collecting data”.

The report was published by HRW last month under the title, ‘I was working like a robot’. Its first report was published in 2016 titled ‘Ba’aouni’ (I was sold). Oman Human Rights Commission said it studies with great concern all reports published by local, regional and international organisations on human rights situation and conditions in the Sultanate based on its powers and jurisdictions stipulated in its law of establishment No 124/2008.

Accordingly, it is obliged monitor human rights status Oman’s non-Omanis.

ORC said: “Titles of both reports and their content gave the impression that violations against domestic workers in Oman is a common practice and is institutionalised.”

OHRC would like to affirm that violation against one person is to of similar in nature and magnitude to violation against many people. “However, generalisations of individual cases that are not well studied can’t be generalised.”

Tanzania’s Commission for Science and Technology denounced the methodology of HRW report and demanded that it be banned in Tanzania as researchers did not comply with established research procedures of objectivity and accuracy in obtaining information from both parties.

The commission said the researchers did not travel to Oman to verify allegations of the Tanzanian workers.