Saudis Warned Against Recruiting Lankan Maids
Lankan housemaids at the airport
A recruitment source in Sri Lanka has warned that some Sri Lankan brokers may take advantage of the fact that many Saudis seek the services of Sri Lankan housemaids by encouraging them to run away from their Saudi employers after a certain period of time. The source who spoke on condition of anonymity warned Saudis to not recruit maids from Sri Lanka until they are offered better legal protection.
Explaining why a large number of Sri Lankan housemaids stay with their sponsors for three months and then quit, the source said brokers in Sri Lanka pick maids who do not want to leave the country and pay them money if they return to Sri Lanka after a certain amount of time.
“Unsuspect
ing Saudis pay thousands of riyals recruiting maids only to have them run away after a few months. Once they return to Sri Lanka, the brokers send more maids to the Kingdom and promise them money if they resign after three months. It’s a scam and they are making a lot of money by fleecing Saudis,” said the source who added that recruitment offices might not be directly involved in this scheme.
The source called for halting recruitment from Sri Lanka for the time being so that no more citizens fall victim to the scheme. He also called upon concerned authorities to step in and take action.
The fees of work visas for the Kingdom have increased while the fees of other Gulf countries have remained the same, a matter which shows clear discrimination against the Kingdom, said the source. It takes a Saudi citizen eight months to bring a housemaid and this period might increase to a year in light of the current circumstances.
Following the moratorium on recruitment from the Philippines and Indonesia, the demand for Sri Lankan housemaids has shot up and recruitment costs have reached SR18,000. According to figures released by a maids’ recruitment office in Riyadh, over 300 maids arrive in the Kingdom every month.
Waleed Al-Suwaidan, investor in the recruitment sector, confirmed the fact that Sri Lankan brokers pay housemaids $1000 to go work in the Kingdom for three months and then leave.
He also said Saudis do not have any legal protection. He urged citizens not to recruit Sri Lankan housemaids for the time being, adding that the recruitment market will see some improvement and solutions soon. (Saudigazette)
Sri Lanka should NOT send any women as domestic Aides to any Middle east Country especially Saudi. I am in a Mid-East region and I volunteer to a certain womens shelter group where I have seen terrrible abuse and heard nightmares of young & not so young ladies some we have found dumped in barren lands along the causeway with only their clothes on their bodies. recently we located an Asian domestic workers who was unconcious badly beaten and raped 17 times over, she passed away after a few weeks. We cannot even take action against the perpetrators due to Shariah Law which also twised to suit them.
Sri Lanka it is time to wake up and protect your women from such torture and such manipulative scheming rogues. High time for crooked governmental Minsiters to at least wake up to this and treat this with sincererity.
Not only in Saudi. The situation is same in other Gulf countries as well. These maids come to these countres with a plan to run away after some time. Sometimes, these maids do not even reach the actual sponsor, but, runaway from the airport itself. The situation is pathetic. These money mongers do not think that they are destroying the chance of the poor ladies to make some money and improve the situation of their families..
the rule in saudi is you can check in any time you want but you can never leave
the reason why so many housemaids end up killing themselves
they never pay the contracted amout
there is no legal recourse in saudi
it is a brutal dictatorial regime
where physical abuse and sexual abuse is rampant
and the saudi law enforcement is racist and corrupt
it is not the case just with housemaids
but any type of worker will tell you the same
not just sri-lankans
but indians ,bangladeshi and pakistani
will tell you horror stories they have experienced in saudi
the sri-lankan brokers are just pimps
forging birth certificates to send minors
as sexual slaves
this is what it is all about
sex slaves
these are the filthy muslims that think they are gods gift to this earth. their religion is of fear and biased to men not to women who are ill treated and marginalised.
the same gang is trying to push the sinhalese out of their country.
it is due to the selfish sinhala politicians that our women have to be maids to this cracko’s
and all this for our politicos and officials to obtain dollars for their duty free luxury imports
KUDU – do u know any country law , do not talk like an idiot , i think u have not been educated , that is why u write like this , keep your woman at home , why you idiot u send as slaves and cry after sending , saudi never wanted workers from SL , why u send , you enjoy saudi money , saudi funds , even IMF is funded by saudi , do you know idiot , u shud know before you talk , you eat from saudi funds and shit on the same plate , to whom you were born
Lima – you are no better my friend and sound even more illeterate ! Keep your money and your dicks in your pants and do not poke it in your housemaids who have come to keep your dirty houses, clean. Those of us who have travelled all over the world know well what Saudis are like so don’t try telling us. They are uncouth and arrogant. They keep their women in black ‘tents’ so that other men don’t see them but would go out of their way to poke it in others. The housemaids come to work due to poverty – since you claim that they should stay at home if they don’t want to be raped ?! What stupidity.
Your forefathers, were Beduins living in tents before the oil gushed out of the earth so before that time they too were very poor – obviously you forget that Habibi ?
Even though IMF funded by Saudis doesn’t mean we should send women as sex slaves. Besides they are giving loans not donations. Saudis are racist, terrorist,unethical medieval animals. They need Sri Lankan women as sex slaves and thats it, cos no country send them except Sri Lanka “the wonder of asia “.
There is no law in Saudi Arabia at least for foreigners,if foreigners caught doing something wrong highest punishment except for Americans. If done by Saudis it becomes no evidence or suicide.
This housemaid trade is nothing but a slave trade done by human smugglers cum thugs with political influence who act as job agents.
There are thousands of women raped, killed, tortured by Saudis and other middle eastern countries but no media speak openly about that!
Kudu – kind of right, there are too much of crime,, raping even recently also I heard about one Sri Lankan maid rape, not only one two so many cases as like,, one day I am hearing so many crimes in gulf 85% in Saudi,, Mr.LIMA- if u have any doubt about that I think better once a visit to Saudi, as a employer than u can understand what’s the position for as a worker, if you want to know about KSA just visit http://www.emirates247.com this link will learn you about KSA, that much of crimes,, for all Sri Lankans if u r getting ready to send you are wife to KSA, better to visit one year as a worker all husband s, after arrive in Lanka, than think about ladies(wives), as a Sri Lankan lion I can say proudly I am a Sri Lankan Muslim and lucky to live in Sri Lanka, in amazing nation. ;-)
Saudi Government is enforcing new regulations such as compulsory insurance policy like FEB insurance policy in Sri Lanka for protection of foreign labour rights so the employer and employee will be comfortable to make a decision whether continue or quite without disadvantages for any party. It is fact that as long as there is supplies there will be less demand and the less demand have the less will be bargaining position. There is no point in blaming another country or people while we are doing our own mistake of not to develop the economy of the country but the opposite (develop personal economy).
There is a simple solution to this blatant discrimination – insist on the local Labour Laws be applied to all workers and not only the Saudis. The Sri Lankan Bureau of Foreign Employment should act now when there is a demand for Sri Lankan maids to obtain a better deal for them.