This is in response to Abdullah Sayel’s cartoon and a write-up on Ethiopian maids. The cartoon and the article appeared following a decision by the Ministry of Labor to stop recruiting Ethiopian maids. Meanwhile, the Ethiopian government also announced that the recruitment of maids to be sent to Saudi Arabia has been suspended for unspecified period of time.
The writer hastily generalizes that all Ethiopian maids are criminal and their acts have reached the level of public horror. According to his claims, the Ethiopian government has been sending maids with psychological problems. However, I agree over the proposed solutions raised by the writer. In addition to what he mentioned, the sources of the problems should be analyzed before taking any kind of measure from both the Saudi and Ethiopian side. I never deny the crimes committed by the Ethiopian maids and I also feel the pain of the victims’ families.
However, we get the one-sided and biased information from the media. The media outlets have completely ignored crimes committed against Ethiopian maids. It is known that all maids coming to Saudi Arabia undergo medical examinations to check whether they are medically fit or not before they start their jobs. However, it is undeniable that among these medically certified and fit workers, many of them get mentally deranged and demented by the inhuman and illegal treatment of their employers.
It should also be clear that no one came or was sent from Ethiopia as mentally deranged. To sum it up, the Ethiopian government suspended the process for the sake of evaluating the process of medical check-ups. However, the Kingdom should also analyze the case once more and evaluate treatment of employers toward their employees.
As Abdullah Sayel suggested, close collaboration on the recruitment and employee-handling process should be considered as a solution rather than taking such kinds of measures. — Taye ZeHawassa, Warsaw
Ethiopian maids
