Though the report was published in 2011, cases of of  abuse have been documented since at least 2007; inhabitable dormitories, 13-18 hour work days, unfair wages, physical mistreatment, and sexual exploitation all frequent the worker’s accusations. A Sri Lankan factory manager, Anil Santha, lies at the center of these abuses. Santha is accused of a range of misconduct including rape and withholding pay, a pattern of exploitation which he sustained by threatening to deport workers if they complained.  Though workers overcame the barrier of fear he constructed, the response of the authorities and upper management was less than effective;  after a factory wide strike in 2010, Anil was sent away only to resume terrorizing workers one month later. On June 18, Anil was arrested after an employee recounted her rape before a prosecutor. He was released only three days later. 

The Jordanian labor ministry’s failure to protect the rights of these workers is consistent with its wider migrant practices; for example, in 2007, Bangladeshi men were banned from working in Jordan after attempting to pursue their rights as prescribed under the U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement. The ministry continues to fail to enforce the Free Trade Agreement’s labor clause.; Better Works Jordan, a monitoring group largely sponsored the by the U.S. government, has placed the factory on its “Golden List” of institutes in full compliances with labor laws for the past five years. Given that complaints have been registered against the factory for several years, workers accuse the ministry of taking bribes from the factory. The Jordanian government’s reactions discourage workers to report mistreatment, as they risk their lives and employment only be subjected to apathy and retaliatory abuse. 

As migrant workers’ voices are effectively silenced by ineffective ministries and oversight organizations, change must come from those in a position of power – most visibly,  the distributors who purchase Classic Factory’s clothing.  Retailers who source from the factory include Wal-mart, Hanes, and Macy’s. Though monitors are periodically sent to the factories, they only speak with workers selected and primed by the management. Students in Chicago have recognized the need for these brands to take a stronger stand against these inhumane and illegal conditions. The students distribute fliers near retailer stores to encourage consumers to pressure companies to comply with the law and end the chronic exploitation.  

They say their intention was not to kill her but she died.

Notice how we only see the initials of the people reponsible for the crime. Were they migrants, we would have definetely had the full names and highlited.

A day later, Al-Qabas Arabic daily newspaper in Kuwait reported an incident of an Asian maid who was stabbed to death in Subahiya area. The news piece does not give any further details or say whether the incident happened in her place or her sponsor’s, but an investigation is still ongoing. Another incident reported by Al-Qabas says that an Asian male committed suicide by hanging himself in his sponsor’s beach house on the 8th of June.

Another horrific case reported in the Kuwaiti press involved a man raped a 28-year-old Ethiopian maid on the 6th of May. The incident has been reported by Kuwait Arabic daily newspaper Al-Qabas. The report stated that a man wearing a Dishdasha and Ghutra offered the Ethiopian maid a ride from Hawaly to Salmiya and when she refused his offer, he did not let go of her, and raped her behind one of the Gas stations and dropped her in one of Al-Surra area main streets after giving her his name and phone number.

Also, two suicide incidents have been reported in the past two weeks, one of them has unfortunately succeeded when an Asian maid hanged herself in her sponsor’s house in Sabah Al-Salem area, as reported by Al-Qabas newspaper. The Kuwaiti female sponsor has found her maid dead in her room and immediately called police. The other suicide attempt was reported by Al-Watan, which described that an Indian maid in her 40′s has taken some insecticide to end her life. She was found alive and was transferred to Mubarak Al-Kabeer hospital immediately. Swallowing insecticide is a common suicide method of maids who have access to toxic liquids as part of their job.

The same newspaper at the same issue has reported that an Asian maid tried to run away from the house she works for by throwing herself from the 2^nd floor from a building in Farwaniya area.  The maid was immediately taken to the hospital and will be investigated when her health gets better, on the reasons of her attempt. Although the newspaper said the maid was trying to runaway, the news piece was entitled “a suicide attempt”!

Two days later, on the 9^th of April, Al-Wattan Arabic Daily newspaper reported an incident of an Indian maid who tried to commit suicide by swallowing some Insecticide.  The family she works for noticed her ill condition and took her to the hospital and a case was submitted for investigation. Unfortunately, Kuwaiti media has developed this habit of reporting such incidents regarding maids without following up with the cases’ updates which leaves us uncertain about the condition and destiny of those victims.

The first report from March 10th describes how three Kuwait sponsors and two policemen tortured to death an unidentified Asian man. The Kuwait sponsors captured and “mercilessly beat” the man and then handed him over to the police, accusing him of setting fire and robbing their farms. During his “interrogation” by the police, the worker collapsed and died due to torture. The Kuwaiti men and the policemen were questioned following this death.

The second case, which was reported yesterday involves the kidnapping and brutal torture of an unidentified Indonesian woman by two brothers who serve at the Ministry of Defense. The women was found in a pool of blood in Riqqa with signs of cigarette burns on her body. According to the police, the woman jumped to her death from the sixth floor preferring death over continuing to endure the sexual and physical abuse she suffered at the hands of the Kuwaiti men. The brothers were interrogated by the Public Prosecutor and admitted to their crimes.

Unfortunately, abuse of migrants by police are not unique in Kuwait. Recently, the Court of Appeals acquitted a policemen of torturing and raping two Filipinas. In April 2010 we’ve documented a previous case of kidnapping and raping of an Indonesian maid by a Kuwait police officer. In January 2010 a police officer in Kuwait admitted to raping women migrant workers for 15 years and then sending them off to the deportation center. On November 29, 2009 the Arab Times reported about the case of two maids who were kidnapped and gang-raped by a policemen and his friend and then sent to the deportation center. These reports illustrate how Kuwait state officials are able to abuse migrants with impunity. In these cases and many unreported ones the Kuwaiti police, which is supposed to protect abused workers, turns into another mechanism of oppression.

regional co-ordinator, Migrante Middle East

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – A Filipino migrant rights group based in the Middle East today said it is looking forward to meet Vice President Jejomar Binay before the end of this month to discuss OFWs woes and other concerns.

John Leonard Monterona, Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator, confirmed that his group is working to finalize a courtesy meeting with Vice President Jejomar Binay who is also the presidential adviser on OFWs concerns.

Before 2010 ended, it was reported that the Vice President is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia upon the invitation of OFWs organizations in Jeddah supposedly on mid-December but it was postponed due to conflict of schedules.

“We were eager then to meet the Vice President upon hearing that he will be visiting Saudi Arabia on mid-December last year which was postponed due to conflict of schedules, and it was re-set but no definite schedule yet announced by his office,” Monterona added.

Monterona said in fact Migrante chapters along with other OFWs organizations are looking to meet him during his supposed mid-December visit to Saudi Arabia but it was postponed.

“The postponed planned visit by the Vice President was a lost opportunity on our part as we are prepared to convey to the Vice President the numerous concerns and woes of our fellow OFWs in Saudi Arabia and in other mid-east countries as well,” Monterona added.

However, Monterona confirmed that consultation is on-going to finalize a courtesy meeting with the Vice President with the assistance of former Negros Congressman Jose A. Lozada before the end of this month.

“We are proposing to discuss with the Vice President during the planned meeting with him the issue on OFWs protection, on-site services to distress, abused and maltreated, run away and undocumented, rampant labor malpractices, and the numerous unsolved cases of mysterious deaths and sexual abuses,” Monterona added.

Monterona said he will particularly be bringing to the attention of the Vice President the case of murdered OFW Romilyn Eroy-Ibanez and other cases of mysterious deaths which are still unsolved.

Last Friday, Migrante chapters in Saudi Arabia kicked off the campaign “Justice for murdered OFW Romilyn Eroy-Ibanez and other Victims” through press conferences and signature petition to press hard the Aquino government to act on the case of murdered OFW Eroy-Ibanez and other victims of abuse and provide on-site assistance and protection to OFWs in Saudi Arabia and in other mid-east countries.

OFW Eroy-Ibanez was murdered on September 2 inside the house of her employer in Al-Khobar. She was rushed to the hospitals and an hour later was pronounced dead. No formal case has been filed against the culprit as per the information received by Migrante-Saudi Arabia.

As of 10:00am today, KSA time, the online petition have already (http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/justiceformurderedofweroy-ibanez/) gathered 219+ signatures on plus about 300+ actual signatures, and 22 OFWs organizations, and still counting.

“Definitely, we will present a copy of the signature campaign ‘justice for all victims of abuse’ to the Vice President along with the lists of unsolved cases we have documented during the past years including last year,” Monterona averred.

Monterona ended saying his group “will continue to press hard the Aquino administration to seriously attend on the deplorable conditions of OFWs, and come up with a doable blue print on OFWs protection and improve on-site services in particular”.

Most Saudis, both rich and poor, are brought up in a culture that expects somebody else to do the rough work. Saudi culture is for large houses and combined families. Saudi families are large and need help to run their household. There is a complete absence of any participation from the Saudi side. Saudi housewives sleep till late hours in the morning on all days of the week after being awake all night. They could hardly prepare a pot of tea, let alone a meal. Cleaning the house or mopping floors is unbearable. Even the youngsters are not taught to bear household responsibilities. A maid has to clean the house, cook and look after the children, climb stairs with gas cylinders and drinking water-cans to the third and fourth floors. Hiring a maid is well within normal means. It costs Saudi Riyals 6,000 to the recruiting agent to fetch a maid and a salary of 800 Riyals per month to the maid.

Employing maids is also a “status symbol”, the last item a family would give up. This has led Saudi households to depend heavily on maids. The general Saudi mentality is that when they employ a maid they have acquired a jinni in the magic lamp that will work anytime, produce results under any circumstances and take no days off. About 25,000 maids arrive each month to work in Saudi households.

“When 29-year old Ramani Prianka of Sri Lanka accepted the job in Saudi Arabia she thought it would be a pleasant way to earn more. After all, she would be working indoors as a housemaid for a well-to-do Saudi family. He was the manager of a big hospital; she was the principal of a school. How tough could it be? Very tough, Prianka quickly discovered. The house had a dozen rooms with bathrooms and Prianka, the only maid, was expected to clean every one every day. There were nine children and Prianka had to wash all their clothes and cook all their food. Seven days a week, she got up at 4.30 a.m. and never went to bed before midnight. All this for the equivalent of 26 US Dollars a week.

After nine months, depressed and exhausted, Prianka had enough. As the family slept, she sneaked out of the house, flagged down a taxi and told the driver to take her to the Embassy of The Republic of Sri Lanka.” (St. Petersburg Times, 23rd July 2002)

A spokesman for the Indonesian embassy in Riyadh reported the death of Salastri Salamah, a domestic maid in her forties who died of natural causes in 2005. She worked in a remote village in central Saudi Arabia where she was held in slave-like conditions and was not paid for seven and a half years. The sponsor was completely uncooperative and allegedly owed the maid 89 months’ salary. When approached by the embassy, he claimed that he does not have the money to pay her salary or for the repatriation of her body.

There is no law in the country to make the sponsor prove his financial ability to pay for the salary of foreign domestic maids or drivers when he employs them. These are the reported cases. Others suffer in silence.

In the words of Wajeha Al-Huwaider, an MA from George Washington University and a Saudi woman of repute, ”Why do we forget that when we subject our fellow human beings to suppression and oppression, it is unlawful? We imagine that we are the cream of the crop and that we know right from wrong. We believe that women from other parts of the world are ill-mannered and lost. It is from that standpoint that we give ourselves the right to rob them of their existence and take away their basic rights by force. I consider her a friend, who helps me bear the burden of household chores and in bringing up my children”.

The fate of Leonora Somera of northern Philippine is touching. Leonora Somera, who turned 65 in 2005 arrived in Saudi Arabia in 1987 to work as a housemaid. Unfortunately, her employer died after two years. His son moved Leonora to a farm 275 kilometers south of Jeddah where she tended his flock. “Every day I took those (45 sheep) to the mountains and herded them…I did not have money to buy food because my employer did not give me any and neither did he pay me my salary… I talked to the sheep. I told them, ‘you are better because you eat regularly every day, while I don’t know if my family in the Philippines has food on their table. When will I have money to send to my family?”

In 1999, Leonora resigned. In 2003 she approached her employer again. This time she was shocked when her employer told her bluntly, ”You can’t go home. Your passport and Iqama are lost”. Finally, in December 2005, Leonora managed to escape and through the help of her neighbour reached the Filipino Workers Resources Center run by the Embassy of the Philippines. “I am asking for your help so that I can get my wages for the past 18 years from my employer. I am old and cannot work anymore. Hopefully with some money I can start a small business”. (Arab News 3rd January 2006, “Filipino Rescued After Working without Pay for 18 Years” by Raffy Osumo). Leonora’s daughter who was 6 years old when she left is now of 24 years old and is waiting anxiously to be reunited with her mother.

The Jakarta Post of 14th May 2003 reported the case of a 15-year-old Indonesian maid. Her Saudi employer repeatedly attempted to rape her. When she refused she was beaten up and he held her captive. She escaped once only to be pushed back into her Saudi’s lap. The police rarely take any action, especially in favour of a foreigner. In May 2003 the maid was repatriated in poor psychological condition and was admitted to a mental hospital in Lambok in Indonesia. The Saudi culprit walks about freely.

The story of housemaids is a saga of human ordeal, a great migration of the weak and feeble. Depression sets in when they find they have been cheated. The ones held in veneration are the first to give up. Ahmed Mansour Al-Zamil, the Deputy Minister for Labour Affairs, announced the formation of a separate department, The Department for the Protection of workers. “This department will receive complaints from maids who have been sexually harassed, mistreated or who have not been given their salaries. If it is proven that the employer has not paid his maid, we will ban him from applying for any domestic worker in the next five years”. The new move by the Ministry came after reports of recurrent abuses of maids by Saudis in various parts of the country.

In April 2006 this revised labour law came into effect. Regretfully, the revised labour law did not contain any provision to prevent the abuse of housemaids. What good are the 245 articles of the new law for the million housemaids in Saudi Arabia? They continue to be looked upon as the “possession of the right hand” of their Saudi masters.

The Sri Lankan Bureau of Foreign Employment runs a counter at Colombo airport to help returning maids with problems. It says on average 50 maids return back in distress per day from Arabian Gulf countries. Gruesome cases are kept out of sight, quickly ushered from the airport to The Sahana Piyasa (Place of Relief), a shelter run by the Foreign Employment Bureau. Some badly injured women are carried off the plane on stretchers. Most cases never make the news and they are nursed in shelters until they heal sufficiently not to shock their families.

There are about a million domestic maids employed in Saudi households throughout the kingdom. About 600,000 are from Indonesia, 150,000 each from The Philippines and Sri Lanka, and the balance is shared mainly between Egyptians and Indians. A total of 20,000 cases of fleeing maids were reported in 2004. The Sri Lankan and The Philippines’ shelters in Riyadh each receive 10 cases per day and their Jeddah shelters each receive about 7 cases per day. About 7,000 maids seek shelter in a year. The Sri Lankan shelter in Jeddah can house 80 runaway maids, while their Riyadh shelters can accommodate 200 maids. The figures are much higher at the Indonesian shelters.

About 2,800 Sri Lankan maids ran away from their Saudi sponsors in 2001 and about 3,400 Sri Lankan maids deserted their employers in 2002. In 2002 about 3,600 Indonesian maids were repatriated back to Jakarta. Complaints ranged from sexual harassment, beating by employers or their family members, nonpayment of salaries and long working hours, sometimes reaching 20 hours a day.

In July 2005 a group of 150 Bangladeshi women set foot on Saudi Arabia as maids. By September 2005, five had returned after being sexually harassed by their employers. Sultana Akhter of Netrakona, aged 19, was harassed on the very first night of her arrival but managed to seek shelter in the room of the employer’s wife. Farhana aged 18 of Habibganj, Lipi aged 19 of Tangail and Selina Ranu of Khulna all complained of sexual harassment by their employers and returned. (News from Bangladesh, 12th September 2005)

About 15 percent of the Sri Lankan maids who leave each year return prematurely due to abuse, non-payment of salary or because they have been drawn into prostitution. Volunteers try to help. Dr. Nishamanie Edirisinge, a Sri Lankan doctor, has volunteered to look after the health problems of Sri Lankan maids at their shelters.

Jakarta airport officials send returning domestic maids with medical or mental problems to Sutanto Police Hospital since it is the only public hospital in Jakarta with a special unit to treat battered women.

22-year-old Rini, another Indonesian maid, no longer remembers the name of her home village which varies each time she is asked. She says her employer’s wife and their two teenaged sons beat her.

In 2003 Wiwin Marka, a 28-year-old Indonesian maid died at Sutanto Hospital, two days after returning from Saudi Arabia. The Jakarta Post reported that her physical condition was only “skin and bones” and that she had complained of burning lungs and vomiting. When asked about maid abuse in Saudi Arabia Ali Al Namlah, the Minister of Social Affairs played down the issue and told the Indonesian news service Detik that the number of cases of abuse is a negligible percentage of the number of Indonesian maids in the Kingdom. (San Francisco Gate Chronicle, 11th December 2003)

Well, how can you explain this to those recuperating at Sutanto Police Hospital’s special unit for sexual assault and trauma?