2 From Breaking the Silence to Breaking the Chain of Social Injustice: Indonesian Women Migrant Domestic Workers in the United Arab Emirates

This chapter provides a perspective on the chain of social injustice faced by Indonesian migrant domestic workers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). By using the lens of gender to connect practices within the Indonesian management system for labour migration with those guided by regulations governing the management of foreign labour in the UAE, the chapter reveals the consequences of the absence of a specific law governing the presence of domestic workers in both countries. Labour migration management systems are bounded by the nation state, whereas domestic workers must rely on transnational coordination between two systems. Where their work is not legally defined, they can become subject to arbitrary treatment at different points in their migration along a transnational chain of relations of structural dependency. They tend to bear the weight of institutional dysfunctions, often with dire consequences for their private lives. Learning from their experiences can help us draw lessons for future action towards achieving standards of decent work within a territory and standards of basic human security applicable to their transnational movement. Just as research into transnational migration has moved beyond methodological nationalism, so also labour migration policy needs to find frames of reference appropriate to context to ensure that workers’ rights are protected in different places.