By New Age Islam Edit
Bureau
28 September 2020
Bangladeshi
maids in Saudi Arabia | The Asian Age Online, Bangladesh
----
Saudi
Arabia is one of the biggest employment providers for the youth of the poor and
developing countries. Youth from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Philippines,
Indonesia, Malaysia and other Muslim majority countries head for Saudi Arabia
for employment. But at the same time Saudi Arabia's human rights record is very
poor. There are numerous reports of inhuman treatment of workers, and their
physical and mental torture and harassment is well documented. Particularly,
the female domestic helps from India, Sri Lanka, Philippines and Bangladesh
have been brutalised by their employers. For example, in 2014, a Sri Lankan
maid who had been brutally tortured returned to her country with 24 nails
inside her body.
A
BRAC official talks to women at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka
following their return from Saudi Arabia, Aug. 26, 2019.
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In 2015, an
Indian female domestic help's hand was chopped off by her employer because she
had complained to the local officials about her torture and harassment.
In 2018, a
14 year old Bangladeshi girl Kulsum's dead body came from Saudi Arabia with her
arms and legs fractured and her eyes injured.
Sumi
Akter showed scars from when hot oil was poured onto her arms while working in
Saudi Arabia (MEE Graphics)
----
These are
some of the incidents of torture and murder of house maids working in Saudi
Arabia.
In 2014, an
Indonesian woman named Satina was sentenced to death for murdering her
employer. She had murdered her employer while trying to save herself from being
raped by him. But the Indonesian government paid blood money of $2.1 million to
save her and brought her home, and set an example showing to the world it
valued the life of its citizens and it paid $2.1 million to save the life of a
poor woman of the country. After this incident, Indonesia barred its women from
going to 21 Middle East countries including Saudi Arabia as domestic helps.
This caused
a crisis of female domestic helps in Saudi Arabia. To solve this problem, Saudi
Arabia entered into an agreement with Bangladesh under which Bangladesh agreed
to send its female domestic workers to Saudi Arabia. Prior to this agreement,
the number of Bangladeshi women workers in Saudi Arabia was very low. According
to the Bangladesh Ministry of Labour statistics, the number of women going to
KSA in 2009 was 386; in 2010, it was only 44, in 2011 it was only 166; in 2012
it was 484; in 2013, it was 167 and in 2014 the number of Bangladeshi women
going to KSA was only 13.
But after
the agreement between Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia, there was a surge in the
number of Bangladeshi women heading for the Saudi Kingdom. In 2015, a total of
20,952 women went to Saudi Arabia as domestic helps. Next year that is in 2016
the number grew threefold. A total of 68,286 women went to Saudi Arabia as
domestic helps. In 2017, 83,354 women went to Saudi Arabia. And in 2018, the
number touched one lakh approximately.
These women
together with the male workers sent about $3.5 billion to Bangladesh
contributing to the economic growth of the country. But the other side of the
picture was not only gloomy but horrific and heart wrenching. Many women faced
inhuman treatment from their employers. They complained of physical and mental
harassment, starvation, confinement, brutal torture and even rape. On the one
hand, thousands of poor women were heading for Saudi Arabia in the hope of
getting rich and on the other, many women were fleeing Saudi Arabia to save
their life and dignity. In 2018, a Bangladeshi maid was raped by her employer
and pushed from the roof rendering her disabled. Many women became insane due
to mental torture. During the last four years about 6000 women workers have
returned to Bangladesh, of them 800 returned in 2019. 950 female workers
returned in 2018. The Bangladesh government has acknowledged the fact that many
women have returned from Saudi Arabia due to mental and physical torture.
During the last four years, 66 Bangladeshi women have died in Saudi Arabia. Out
of them 52 women have been declared committed suicide by the Saudi government.
The Saudi
employers take the passport and other documents of the women in their custody
rendering them helpless and they become virtual slaves. They are exploited and
tortured and sexually assaulted. When they complain to the local authorities
spurious charges are levelled against them. They are starved as punishment.
They are not paid for months despite making them work for 18 hours a day. The
Human Rights Watch has described the behaviour of the Saudi employers as racial
and religious discrimination.
The
pathetic condition of the domestic workers of Bangladesh has caused concern
among the public and in the rights circle and they have demanded that like
Indonesia and Philippines, Bangladesh also should ban its women from going to
Saudi Arabia. The National Human Rights Commission of Bangladesh has also
recommended this to the government. But unfortunately, the Hasina government
has ruled out banning the Bangladeshi women from going to Saudi Arabia because
billions of dollars are more valuable to her government than the life and
dignity of her women. While the Hasina government turns a blind eye to the
plight of her women folk in Saudi Arabia, women there run away to the
Bangladesh embassy in Jeddah and Riyadh where unofficial safe houses have been
set up for such women. On an average, 3 to 4 women come to the safe house to
seek refuge every day. They stay there for months while their documents are
prepared for their repatriation to Bangladesh.
Bangladesh
is one of the poorest countries of the world and therefore opportunities for
employment for the youth there are less. That's why Bangladeshi youth head for
Gulf States for job. About one million men and women from Bangladesh went to
the Gulf States in 2017 and 57% of Bangladeshi workforce is based in Saudi
Arabia. The revenue they earn for the country is $16 billion. This the reason
Hasina government does not want to lose the billions of dollars that comes to
the country through these migrant workers. For this the critics of Hasina
governments say that she has sold out the dignity of her women for some
dollars. While Saudi Arabia has failed to discipline and reign in its
employers, unlike the Indonesian government, the Bangladesh government has
completely ignored the plight of the female workers in Saudi Arabia and has
left them at the mercy of savage and heartless Saudi employers.
URL: https://newageislam.com/the-war-within-islam/bangladeshi-slave-girls-arab-masters/d/122973
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