The Arab Times, Saudi’s leading English-language paper recently published a report about the prevalence of suicide by housemaids as a result of abuse and maltreatment. Most recently, a 30-year-old maid committed suicide in Saudi on February 26.
Below is the article by Arab Times. This article is important because too often regional papers attribute the suicide of migrant workers to mental illness and causes other than abuse by sponsors. We hope that with the realization that this desperate acts are committed because of maltreatment, abusive sponsors will be held accountable for triggering the suicide of their workers.
‘Abuse pushes maids to end their lives’
By Rima Al-Mukhtar | Mar 6, 2010
JEDDAH: Housemaids are claiming violence and mistreatment are the main reasons why many of them try to end their lives.
In the last couple of years there have been countless reports of abuse in the media, including testimonies from maids about the withholding of salaries, verbal or physical abuse and restrictions on their movements.
“Maids never have the intention to kill themselves, but circumstances put them in a place where they are facing a dead end,” said a recruitment officer.
Maids who are physically or emotionally abused have no choice but to either run away or attempt suicide. Those maids are expected to work around the clock, sleeping for only two or three hours a night.
“I worked in a house where the sponsors used to feed us one meal a day and lock the fridge later to make sure we didn’t eat anything else,” said Salma, an Indonesian housemaid.
Earlier this year, a maid tried to hang herself from the ceiling. Another tried to drink detergent to end her life. Yet another threw herself from the window of a building. The lucky ones were saved. Maids are also beaten up or sexually abused by their sponsors. An Arab News report published on Feb. 27 told the story of an Indonesian maid taken to hospital when she fell from the third floor of her sponsor’s building.
The doctors later found that the maid had been beaten up and tortured and found burns and lashing marks on her back. They also detected internal bleeding and an injury to her head.
“Sponsors need to know that we are already humiliated by working as house maids,” said Tess, a Filipino housemaid. “And we don’t need any more insults to add to our misery. We are working for the money. If we didn’t need it we wouldn’t have left our family and friends in the first place.”
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March 10, 2010
I sent the following letter to Boeing CEO, Mr. James McNerney after experiencing and witnessing human rights violations in Saudi Arabia. The Boeing CEO never bothered to respond to my letter of concern and the U.S. State Department although notified of these violations has taken no action against these people who continue to control, intimidate and abuse the rights of others in the country of Saudi Arabia.
The Boeing Company
Mr. W. James McNerney, Jr., CEO
100 N. Riverside MC 5003-6010
Chicago, IL 60606-1596
June 2, 2009
Subj: Ethics Violations
Dear Mr. McNerney:
I am a United States Citizen who hired on with Boeing International Support Systems, (BISS) in January of 2009 for the position of Flight / Simulator Instructor in support of the Lockheed C-130 program in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. As the President of the Boeing Company, you need to be made aware that Boeing International Support Systems management is engaged in the following practices that can only be described as unprofessional, unethical and possibly in violation of US and International law for the prevention of one’s liberty and freedom to move or travel. (Human Trafficking) Although, I provided this information to your ethics committee at ethicsline.ethics@boeing.com and followed that e-mail up with a phone call in early April of this year, your ethics committee never responded.
The following is a list of unethical business practices that I have personally observed. These practices can be confirmed by at least ten (10) other past or present Boeing employees. (Please find attached a list of employees who have witnessed this wrongdoing)
• detaining employees who wished to terminate employment
• failing to provide Iqamas, (in some cases over a year)
• allowing employee’s entry visas to expire without renewal
• not providing exit visas when requested
• not paying salaries on time
• not paying reimbursable expenses
• not paying sign on bonuses
• misrepresenting living conditions during the interview process
• confiscating passports from US Citizens and Third World Nationals upon arrival in country
• failing to return United States Passports when requested
• failing to provide clean or sanitary living or working conditions
• threatening employees with retaliation for trying to address these problems
In my particular case and on March 9, 2009 and after I tried to address some of these issues via the chain of command with no success, I submitted a fifteen (15) day advanced notice of resignation. I requested that the company return my US Passport and provide me an “Exit Visa” so that I could terminate employment with Boeing. The company did not return my passport and in fact prevented me from leaving, effectively holding me against my will on their compound for five days. It was during this time that I suffered a injury to my leg. The injury was serious enough that it required immediate attention and ultimately surgery. Once management was aware of the injury, and after a lengthy delay, (three weeks) doctors confirmed a torn Achilles tendon in my left leg. I asked them, that I be allowed to have the required surgery in the United States. I did so because I felt I would have a better selection of doctors, diagnostic skills and more state of the art surgical procedures back in the United States. The company denied my request to have this surgery performed in the United States, in fact claiming that the company’s medical insurance policy was not valid in the United States. (all new hires were issued medical cards indicating medical insurance coverage was valid in the US)
Although the company was well aware of my injury, no one in management made any accommodations for me prior to or following my surgery or to check on my wellbeing. If it had not been for fellow employees and Third World Nationals, (Ethiopians & Pakistanis ) who showed a genuine concerned for me who knows what would have happened to me during the five weeks that I was laid up on the third story apartment (no elevator) at the Mohammedya compound. Further, my contract, referencing “5.13, Sick Leave” states that a Boeing employee is entitled to full pay up to thirty (30) days and subsequent to the thirty (30) days, the employee shall be entitled to further sick leave for up to sixty (60) days at three quartes (3/4) pay in any one anniversary year period. The company has not paid me and this constitutes breach of contract.
I have to say that I have never encountered such irresponsibility, incompetence, and shear disregard for the safety and wellbeing of my fellow human beings, as I have with this company who claims to be a subsidiary of Boeing.
Those employees listed below have been shorted pay, denied expense reimbursement, denied promised bonus money or as in my case completely denied pay altogether. Again, I believe that Boeing International Support Systems/Alsalam Aircraft Company is in breach of our employment contracts for reasons that I have mention in this letter. As such, I would hope that you will see to it that the list of employees enclosed herein who came to work for the Boeing Company in good faith are paid the balance of their contracts for what has amounted to breach of contract. I am sorry to have to bring this matter to your attention, but it requires action by of those at the highest level. I look forward to hearing from you within ten (10) days from the date of this letter.
Sincerely,
Robin P. Petersen
Boeing Employee #B02389
Enclosures: Photo of Injury
List of Boeing Employees
Cc: The Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton, United States Secretary of State
Via United States Consulate Officer Cindy Elkhatib, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Name E-mail
Terry Vipperman Terryv@windowlive.com
Robert Brown Rjbrown76@msn.com
Oscar Ortega Oortega12003@yahoo.com
Johnny Carroll Havoc77@aol.com
Tom Naugle naugenter@hotmail.com
Skip Bunner Skip_bunner@yahoo.com
Darrell Edwards Dledwards1@yahoo.com
Victor Cook Victorlcook25@hotmail.com
Joe Bianchino Joebianchino@verizon.net
Gary McGlinchy gmcglinchy@yahoo.com
Willie Hunter Hunterwille@yahoo.com