JEDDAH, 7 April 2008 — Garuda Indonesia refused to allow an Indonesian woman to travel from Riyadh last Thursday. The airline agent noticed severe bruises and lacerations on her face and she was handed to a representative of the Indonesian Embassy who was at the airport.
“When the Garuda Indonesia agent noticed the battered woman, he refused to let her board the flight,” said Nasser Al-Dandani, legal adviser to the Indonesian Embassy. “After she arrived at the Indonesian Embassy, she was sent to a hospital for medical examination and treatment.”
According to Al-Dandani, the woman, who was legally sponsored by a Saudi, had worked as a maid for a Lebanese family in Riyadh for the past year and half. The reason she was working for a Lebanese family instead of her Saudi sponsor remains unknown.
“The maid said that the wife of her Lebanese employer had beaten her many times during the period she worked for them. But this last was the worst,” said Al-Dandani. “After beating her, the employer arranged for her deportation and sent her to the airport.”
Pictures of the battered maid were sent via Multimedia Messaging System to Arab News. The Indonesian maid spent two days in the hospital though she is now back at the embassy.
“We’re filing a case with the police for legal processing and investigation. What I’d like to say to any employer who dislikes the work of his maid is to send her back home immediately. Why batter and torture her?” said Al-Dandani.
In 2007, Arab News reported on a number of maids who had been beaten to death, raped and abused by their employers. A Saudi teenager was accused of raping an Indonesian maid and impregnating her. However, the General Investigation and Prosecution Board has closed the case claiming “lack of evidence” after the youth denied the allegations.
A vicious attack in August 2007 on four maids working for the same employer in Aflaj in the Riyadh region resulted in the death of Siti Tarwiyah Salmet, 32, and Susmiyati Abdul Fulan, 28. Tari and Rumainih were left severely injured in the incident. Another case involved an Indonesian maid who died after being abused by her sponsor who admitted torturing her. The woman had broken ribs, a broken wrist and burns all over her body.
Columnist Abdullah Al-Maghlouth wrote in Al-Watan newspaper two years ago that some may say that foreign domestic workers make mistakes and aren’t totally blameless, but if Saudis treated workers with respect by giving them basic things such as time-off, suitable working hours and pay, fewer mistakes would be made. “At the end of the day as human beings we really need to treat foreign workers kindly and welcome them as respected members of society,” he said.
