Arab News
The whole system of hiring maids in Saudi Arabia needs govt attention and changes in the law
This newspaper regularly publishes stories about maids in the Kingdom — maids attacked, murdered, abused, raped, unpaid, held as prisoners, treated as slaves — and sometimes even maids executed. There is also the all-too-regular complaint that maids steal and are untrustworthy.
As we have said before, the vast majority of domestic staff are content, the vast majority of their employers considerate. But there is a minority who are not. The way some Saudis treat their maids is outrageous and has given Saudi Arabia a bad name. They beat them and force them to work all hours, every day of the week, every week of the year while there have been some cases of sexual abuse too. Such behavior should be punished with the full force of the law. Yet it seems at times that the legal system favors not the maid but the abuser, especially if he or she is a Saudi.
As for the complaint that some “run away,” the very phrase denotes a sense of ownership. It is arrogant. Prisoners and slaves run away, not employees.
Given the way some maids are treated by their employers, it is hardly surprising they flee. They do so because they are abused and/or badly paid. It is about time that a society was set up to help them escape. In any event, employees should have every right to leave, even if they are not abused. In every other country, people have an unquestioned right to quit their job.
The notion that maids should be held responsible for the search fee paid by the employers to an agency is also unfair. They did not receive the money. If the employer is not prepared to bear the loss, he should try and get it back from the agents. They are the ones making most of the money out of what virtually amounts to a racket. A commission is fair but it should be payable over a six month or longer period, terminated if at any point the maid leaves.
Categories: Asia, Economics, Human Rights, Saudi Arabia