Two steps forward, three steps back
As I wrote about recently, there have been some positive, albeit tentative, movement in regards to the rights of migrant workers in Gulf State. I was even more encouraged when i found an article about a public awareness campaign in Saudi asking them to “be nice to your maid“. However, as I read further in the article I found this little gem:
Riyadh police teamed up with the Sri Lankan embassy in September to rescue a Sri Lankan maid who had telephoned the Arab News newspaper to say she had been imprisoned, abused and unpaid by her woman employer for at least seven years. Charge d’affaires at the Sri Lankan embassy W.S.M.S. Wijesundera told AFP the housemaid had reached a settlement with her employers under which they will pay more than 5,000 dollars and buy her a ticket home. Now, the story does not go into the details about the veracity of the Sri Lankan national’s claims, but if they were even in the ballpark, a mere $5k for seven years of abuse and forced labor! Zero jail time! I don’t care if that is a lot of money in her country, that is just wrong. I want to see the upside that the Arab News and the Riyadh police took action (they often don’t), but really? $5k and a ticket? Wort of all the Saudi government has the temerity to downplay the situation and accuse Human Rights Watch of “exaggerating”. With “penalties” like that, no wonder those Saudis with no morals are not exactly worried about the repercussions of their inhumane actions. In self defense, some domestic workers have resorted to witchcraft to make their employers like them (Translation: The husband got caught sleeping with the maid and this is the best explanation he could come up with).
