The Migrant Workers Support Network - UAE

ions, international institutions, and relevant existing web platforms so workers can know who is available to help them- The ability to SMS or MSN chat questions to the above participating organizations, to talk to each other, and to keep in touch with their families

- A mechanism to sign up for mobile phone services such ‘alo’, which was developed for migrant workers in the UAE. We want to increase mobile phone penetration for migrant workers so they will be able to use them to interact with other new media tools on our site

- A dedicated Twitter feed to publicize offenses and tweet ways to help – a promising appoach since the UAE seems to be embracing technology

- A space that would post workers stories using mobile phone (see also CGnet Swara) to Tweet via SMS. The use of hashtags, such as #MigrantWorkersUAE, would spread word about abuses to agencies with power to help; shortcode SMS can also empower workers and lead to strength in numbers

- The capability to crowdsource incidents such as censorship, human rights abuses, or social strides using CrowdVoice.org’s technology, Ushahidi (based on Egypt's HarassMap example), or FreedomGeomap, which gathers information to end modern day slavery using a platform that requires permission to view crowdsourced maps - protecting the data from censorship. We want to get the UAE on the map!

- Another version of mobile phone technology can include remittance ormicro-banking outlets; Etisalat hopes to capture a slice of the $10B remittance market share in the UAE - A monitoring device for questionable press which Migrant-Rights.orgexposed as false

- The ability to retrieve a copy of a passport through a secure database of scanned passports, based on that of the Philippines, in case an employer seizes a worker's passport