Sunday, July 15, 2012

What if there is a fire? Saudis lock maids in their homes during Ramadan

Because of the added social demands of Ramadan in Saudi Arabia, maids, virtually all of whom are foreigners, are in high demand. When there is a shortage of a product or service, prices go up. So it is with domestic help in the enlightened kingdom.

The maids know this--and some of them abandon their obligations. Desperate actions are being taken by some Saudis to prevent that from happening.

From The Arab News:
Some families, afraid of losing their domestic workers, even resort to locking the maids inside during Ramadan.

Enas, a Saudi doctor at a government hospital, said: "I have experienced problems in the past with runaway maids, especially during Ramadan.

"This is why I began locking all the outside doors and have barred the windows to create a secure environment and keep the maid from running away when I am at work and during the night." She added the maid is free to move about the home as she pleases, but she cannot go outside.

When asked why she thinks locking the maid in is acceptable, she replied: “I feel I have the right to do what is necessary since I am the sponsor responsible for the housemaid.
What if there is a fire?

Abuse of maids in Saudi Arabia is a common occurrence. Read about unpaid and tortured Sri Lankan domestics, including a woman who had 24 nails removed from her legs here. Ready for more? Three months ago 22 Indonesian maids were exonerated and freed from death row, while 25 others remain there. And 1.700 Indonesian servants are serving prison terms in the kingdom. The Arab News wrote in April that many of the death row inmates were "implicated on baseless grounds." The family of a Filipino maid who was murdered in her employers' home were forced to suffer one more indignity--her corpse was abused in a Saudi morgue.

Indonesia now prohibits maids from working in Saudi Arabia. A quick internet search will uncover some reforms in regards to foreign domestics there, but this latest Arab News story leaves me quite skeptical.

Related post:

Video: Newt on not bowing to a Saudi king

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