Joanna Bérenger: "In a country that has known colonialism, slavery, languageism, how are foreign workers being treated?"

At the heart of the controversy opposing her since Tuesday to the Minister of Labor, Reza Uteem, MP Joanna Bérenger maintains that she has never sought to attack the minister's family. Speaking by telephone in the program “Au Cœur de l’Info, hosted Wednesday by Jane Lutchmaya, with the participation of Jean-Luc Mootoosamy and Nita Deerpalsing, the MP returned to the circumstances which led to the clash in the National Assembly.

From the start of her speech, Joanna Bérenger rejected any idea of ​​political score-settling. Responding to questions from journalist Jean-Luc Mootoosamy, she insisted on the fact that her Parliamentary Question focused primarily on the case of a Bangladeshi employee presumed to have fled from her workplace. “At no time did I attack his mother. My question was about the case of a Bangladeshi woman who ran away from her workplace. These people have human rights and not forgetting that this specific case had been taken up by the Bangladesh embassy with a reward of Rs 100,000,” she said.

According to the MP, this case above all illustrates the difficulties faced by certain foreign workers in Mauritius. Asked by Jane Lutchmaya whether she was aware that this case concerned Reza Uteem's mother, Joanna Bérenger wanted to clarify that she has been working on issues related to migrant workers for a long time. “Mo pann vinn dan Lasanble pou koz so mama ou so papa. I came back to my question three times and got no answer. It was when I spoke about the movement rights of foreign workers that things got out of hand,” she maintained.

The MP also claims to have asked her question “in general”, without directly targeting the minister’s family. She also regrets that the debate took such a personal and emotional turn. “The minister could have responded in general terms and sent a clear signal to recruiters and employers. But that was not the case. I have information in the public domain that this lady escaped from her employer through a dumpster. All this demonstrates the treatment she would have undergone,” says Joanna Bérenger.

The latter finally maintains that she is only doing her job as a parliamentarian by seeking to obtain more transparency on certain sensitive issues. .

The day after Reza Uteem's public apology, Joanna Bérenger reacted through a publication on social networks. The opposition MP says she takes note of the regrets expressed by the minister regarding the use of the term “settler” during their exchange in the National Assembly.

However, Joanna Bérenger believes that the main debate should not be limited to this verbal controversy. In her message, she calls for refocusing attention on the case of the missing Bangladeshi employee, saying that the life of this d