RIYADH, 27 April 2004 — Stranded Sri Lankan housemaids were given new clothes as part of the island’s celebrations in the Kingdom. Sri Lankans throughout the Kingdom celebrated the dawn of their new year last week in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam.
The Sri Lankan Embassy in Riyadh and its consulate in Jeddah organized the grand event in cooperation with the Sri Lankan Expatriate Societies while the Eastern Province celebration was organized by a group of Sri Lankans in Dammam.
More than 50 distressed housemaids who are under the custody of the Sri Lankan Consulate in Jeddah received the gifts from Consul General Maznavee Sadiq at a special function attended by many Sri Lankans in the Western Province. “Every year, we receive a sizable sum of money from the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment for this celebration and this is the first time we are spending the entire amount on the welfare of the Sri Lankan housemaids who have sought refuge in the consulate,” Consul General Sadiq said.
The Lankan missions here receive an average of 10 runaway housemaids a day. The domestic aides are kept in the mission’s safe house till everything is settled with their sponsors. Addressing the maids, Sadiq said that quick action is taken to sort out the problems or to repatriate them to Sri Lanka.
