Three domestic workers were awarded €240,000 by the Employment Appeals Tribunal against the ambassador of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for breaches of the workers’ employment rights.
Myra Calderon, Laylanie Laporga and Jennifer Villaranda were awarded €80,000 each at their unfair dismissal claim against the ambassador, Khalid Nasser Rashed Lootah, and his wife Mehra Metad Alghubaisi.
Jennifer Villaranda stated, “I am delighted with this outcome. The chairperson of the Tribunal was appalled by the level of exploitation we suffered. We worked for the ambassador 15 hours a day, 7 days a week and we were only paid only €170 per month – less than €2 per hour. We were constantly on call, our passports were taken and we never had a day off.”
1 in 5 Undocumented Migrants Living in Ireland for Over 10 Years
A groundbreaking new survey of undocumented migrants in Ireland has revealed that 1 in 5 undocumented people have lived in Ireland for over 10 years, and the vast majority have been here for more than five years. The research, launched last week by ICTU president John Douglas, was conducted the MRRCI along with undocumented migrants from MRCI’s Justice for the Undocumented campaign group.
“This research is the first of its kind in Ireland,” said MRCI’s Helen Lowry. “540 undocumented migrants responded to the survey, opening up about their jobs, their families and their lives in Ireland. We now have a picture of the undocumented population in Ireland. The vast majority are working – in restaurants, as cleaners, as carers and childminders – and a huge percentage have young children either here or in their country of origin.”
Key findings: of the 540 undocumented migrants surveyed,
- 81% have been here for 5 years or more
- 21% have been here for 10 years or more
- 87% are working
- 44% are parents
- 53% have 3rd-level education
- people of 29 different nationalities were surveyed, but the top 5 were Filipino, Chinese, Mauritian, Brazilian and Pakistani.
- 86.5% entered the country legally and subsequently became undocumented
