Saudi Arabia

Sri Lanka: Saudi Death Sentence for Maid Shakes Govt

Date: 15/07/2011 - 07:19

Sri Lankan authorities have been grappling with ways of restricting the flow of migrant women abroad due to complaints of non-payment or delayed wages, sexual abuse, and long working hours – issues faced by most domestic workers abroad. Often these issues remain unresolved.

But the latest case to stir Sri Lankans’ conscience is that of Rizana Nafeek, who is awaiting execution in Saudi Arabia. Nafeek was found guilty of killing a baby who had choked to death while in her care. She was sentenced in 2007.

Indonesia: Travails Of Migrant Workers – Analysis

Date: 12/07/2011 - 09:50

The surprise execution of an Indonesian maid, Ruyati binti Sapubi, without the knowledge of the Indonesian government reflects the abominable state of migrant workers resulting from poverty in South and Southeast Asia. The inability of government to provide basic amenities to the people forces them to leave from their own country for an unknown and uncertain future. The outcry over Ruyati’s life and death highlights the problem of what is often dismissed as a private matter: the use and abuse of foreign domestic workers.

Philippines to Help Workers Displaced from Saudi Arabia

Date: 12/07/2011 - 08:32

The Philippines will seek work for tens of thousands of Filipinos who may lose their jobs in Saudi Arabia as both countries implement policies to protect their workers, weakening a key stream of remittances to the Southeast Asian nation.

A workers’ group says around 40 percent of the 1.2 million Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia are at risk from Riyadh’s plans to make firms hire more Saudis and a push by Asian countries for better conditions for their citizens working as domestic help.

Saudi Arabia stops hiring Filipino domestics

Date: 30/03/2011 - 14:23

Saudi Arabia said it would stop the processing of employment contracts for Filipinos household service workers (HSWs) until further notice, Carlos Cao Jr., Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) chief, said Monday.

The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs relayed this information in a note verbale to the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh on March 12.

Report Philippine Congress Mission on Filipino Migrants in Saudi Arabia

Date: 30/03/2011 - 12:17

The mission was led by Congress Representative Walden Bello, and included 3 other Congress Representatives - Rep. Maria Carmen Zamora Apsay (Compostela Valley), Emmeline Aglipay (DIWA Partylist), at Cresente Paez (COOP NATCCO). The visit to Saudi Arabia took place from January 8-13

Philippine delegation focuses on domestic worker abuse in Saudi Arabia

Date: 17/01/2011 - 14:27

Despite several high-profile cases of household worker abuse in Saudi Arabia the Philippines has no immediate plans to recommend a ban on sending domestic workers to the Middle East.

Instead more information is needed, said Walden Bello, a representative of the Akbayan party list at the Philippine congress.

Sorrow in the land of deserts

Date: 01/12/2010 - 10:33

SUMIATI binti Salan Mustapa has to spend her days in room number 125, ward 1B, at the King Fahd Hospital in Medina, Saudi Arabia. The young woman from West Nusa Tenggara lies weak and exhausted in a special ward measuring 4 x 6 meters for patients suffering burn injuries after almost dying due to mistreatment by her employer.

“Her condition is good. She is conscious, and eating lots,” an Indonesian Consulate General staff member in Jeddah told Tempo on Thursday last week. “Sumiati is already able to communicate.”

Prevent Abuses Against Migrant Domestic Workers

Date: 25/11/2010 - 07:49

To the Governments of Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka,

In the wake of recent cases of alleged abuse against Indonesian and Sri Lankan migrant domestic workers employed in Saudi Arabia, we write to urge your governments to ensure a timely and comprehensive response to these individual cases and to implement systemic reforms to prevent such abuses in the future.

Since August 2010, three cases of migrant domestic workers suffering extensive physical injuries, and in one case, death, have surfaced. These include:

Death sentence highlights risks migrant workers face

Date: 16/11/2010 - 10:30

COLOMBO, Nov 15, 2010 (IPS) - When a relative approached Mohamed Nafeek in 2005 to explore the possibility of sending his eldest daughter, Rizana, to the Middle East as a domestic worker, the family thought its luck had finally turned for the better.

UN human rights chief notes changes under way in Gulf region, highlights key concerns

Date: 21/04/2010 - 09:20

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said Monday she believes there is an “encouraging level of governmental activity to improve human rights” in the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) States, especially in the area of economic and social rights, children’s rights and human trafficking, while also noting an array of continuing concerns about women’s rights, migration, statelessness, and freedom of expression, association and assembly.