A/HRC/39/52 However, major challenges regarding the identification of victims persist in the absence of regular labour inspections in private homes. 67. Despite the continuing existence of significant obstacles to access to justice, judgments have been issued in several countries in favour of domestic workers who had suffered exploitation, abuse or even death. In France in January 2018, a couple was sentenced to three years in prison for human trafficking after taking a domestic worker from Dubai to France, where she worked in conditions of forced labour. 90 The couple was required to pay a fine and compensation to the victim. Similarly, in May 2018 a migrant domestic worker who was fired without cause in Canada won severance pay in a lawsuit with the help of a non-profit agency that provided legal support. Given the gravity of the circumstances, however, some sentences seem disproportionately lenient. In one country, a couple who had starved their domestic worker were sentenced to 10 months in jail in 2017. In another country, the criminal court issued a judgment against the employer of a migrant child domestic worker who had been abused and exploited. The employer was sentenced to six months in prison, among other penalties, in 2010. 68. In Uruguay, the first ever labour inspection in a private home, which took place in 2012, led to the identification of violations of the labour rights of three migrant domestic workers and the employers were required by the administrative tribunal to pay them compensation. 91 In the United Kingdom, three cases of alleged domestic servitude have been investigated since 2017 but without prosecution so far. In 2016, the country did, nevertheless, implement some changes in the immigration rules to the effect that migrant domestic workers, including those in diplomatic households, are now allowed to change employer within the six-month validity of their visa, among other measures. 92 The victims’ rights directive of the European Union also applies to migrant domestic workers who are victims of labour exploitation that amounts to a criminal offence, including trafficking in persons. It explicitly applies to undocumented migrants and sets out minimum standards for rights, although implementation for undocumented victims of crime remains limited. 69. In the Middle East, Qatar ended the kafala system in 2017 and a maximum 10-hour workday, a weekly rest day and other measures to protect domestic workers from exploitation were introduced. Nevertheless, domestic workers still have fewer protections than other workers. 93 Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates recently adopted new regulations which are aimed at improving the working conditions of domestic workers. 94 Saudi Arabia and the Philippines signed a bilateral agreement in 2013 that contains specific provisions for joint regulation of private employment agencies. The agreement was the first of its kind to be signed by a country of origin in Asia and a destination country in the Middle East.95 In 2017, the United Arab Emirates set up a special prosecution unit to try cases that involve the abuse of Filipino domestic workers. 96 However, despite the positive legislative changes introduced by some Middle Eastern countries, implementation and enforcement remain major challenges.97 70. The formation of workers’ organizations covering migrant domestic workers, as well as their access to social dialogue mechanisms, such as collective bargaining, is critical to ensure that their voices are heard and that servitude and slavery-like conditions are prevented.98 The Domestic Workers Convention requires ILO members to protect the right of domestic workers and their employers to establish and join organizations, federations and confederations. However, only a few countries have ratified the Convention and the 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 Submission of Comité Contre l’Esclavage Moderne. Uruguay, submission for the present report. Submission of the United Kingdom. See Human Rights Watch, “Qatar: fix gaps in domestic worker law” (26 June 2018). See Rothna Begum, “Gulf States’ slow march toward domestic workers’ rights”, Human Rights Watch (June 2017). ILO, “Regulating international labour recruitment in the domestic work sector”. See The National, “GCC working on unified domestic worker policy”. ILO Regional Office for Arab States, “Domestic workers and employers in the Arab States: promising practices and innovative models for a productive working relationship” (2017). ILO, Care Work and Care Jobs for the Future of Decent Work. 15