Archive for the ‘Saudi Arabia’ Category

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Saudi Media Acknowledges that Sponsor Abuse Drives Maids to Suicide

March 7th, 2010

Abusive employers Housemaids Saudi Arabia Suicide

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 …

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The plight of Bangladeshi migrant workers in the Gulf

March 2nd, 2010

Bahrain Gulf Saudi Arabia

This post was contributed by Kashfia Rahman, a Bangladeshi activist: Saudi Arabia and other parts of the world have neglected and mistreated migrant workers without being given the basic human rights. Around 90,000 Bangladeshi migrant workers live and work in Bahrain, 10 per cent of the total popul...

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1800 Filipinos Languish in Saudi Jails

February 17th, 2010

Gulf Prisoners Saudi Arabia

There are 1800 Filipinos in jail in Saudi Arabia, many of whom have been imprisoned for petty crimes such as drinking alcohol or attending ‘mixed gatherings’, which the government prohibits (See full story here) The King of Saudi Arabia gave a pardon on Dec 11th last year for foreign wor...

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Saudi mulls ban on Asian housemaids because they ‘don’t understand our culture’

January 27th, 2010

Housemaids Saudi Arabia Women

Saudi Arabia is mulling a ban on housemaids from certain Asian countries because they are ‘not able to adapt to local culture and tradition’ and are becoming too problematic, according to this article in the Arab News. This seems a rather preposterous claim given that many of the problem...

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New HRW Report Slams Gulf States for Migrant Abuses

January 26th, 2010

Bahrain Documentation General Gulf Kuwait News Saudi Arabia UAE

Human Rights Watch’s World Report 2010 is out now, and strongly condemns the Gulf states for failing to protect the rights of Migrant Workers. The full report is available here. The HRW report raises the issues of passport confiscation, abuses of domestic workers and bans on trade unions as ke...

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Sri Lanka Demands an Investigation into the Murder of an Abused Maid in Saudi Arabia

January 21st, 2010

Housemaids Legal cases Saudi Arabia

Sri Lanka is demanding a full investigation into the murder of a Balakrishnan Dharshani, a 26-year-old maid whose body was found with burn marks last December in Hofuf, Saudi Arabia. According to an Arab News report from last week, Dharshani’s parents have received letters from her that detail...

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Raped Filipino Worker Faces Lashing after Miscarriage in Saudi Prison

January 20th, 2010

Prisoners Rape Saudi Arabia Women

GMA News TV (Philippines) reported today about an alarming development in the case of a Filipino worker who was raped in Saudi-Arabia this August and jailed for it. After miscarrying the fetus, the woman now faces lashing before being released. As we’ve previously reported, the woman who worke...

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Indian Workers Sold Like Animals in Saudi Arabia

January 14th, 2010

Saudi Arabia Slavery Sponsorship

Earlier this month The Times of India published a story about an Indian worker, Habib Hussein who escaped Saudi Arabia after months of abuse. Hussein sold his lands in India to pay for the agent who brought him into Saudi Arabia in the hope of earning a better living for his family. At first, he was...

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Saudi Housewives Investigate their Maids for Suspicion of Using “Black Magic”

January 3rd, 2010

Housemaids Saudi Arabia

The Arab Times published today what seems to be a serious report titled “Fear of black magic forces maids’ probe“. The underlying message of the title and the report is that the housewives are “forced” to protect themselves against their maids. According to the report, the ...

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