RIYADH, 1 January 2008 — A Saudi sponsor agreed to a settlement of SR43,200 in back wages to Reeta Nisanka, a Sri Lankan maid who was tracked down by authorities at the behest of her parents back home.
Arab News learned yesterday that the maid had been working since 1999 for Ajuruz Al-Abdul Aziz, a businessman in Khaldia District in Gweiyyah, 400 km from Riyadh. She had only received three months’ wages. “The sponsor paid the salary for the first three months and later it was a case of postponement and he promised me that he would pay me in full when I decided to go home one day,” she said.
Nisanka, who is from a village 140 km from the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, reportedly had stopped contacting her family members, who subsequently contacted the Foreign Ministry in Colombo asking for help to find her.
“The maid had opted to stay incommunicado for personal reasons and when embassy officials brought her to the mission she changed her mind and wanted to go home for good,” said W.S.M.S Wijesundera, charge d’affaires of Sri Lanka.
Speaking to Arab News, Nisanka said that she did not have any problems in her workplace and all members of the sponsor’s family looked after her well.
In Sri Lanka, the maid’s husband is a mason and her son has grown into a young man during her nine years in Saudi Arabia. Nisanka said she would give a fair portion of the money to her 19-year-old son to start a business.
Al-Abdul Aziz said that Nisanka was a pleasant maid. “We feel sorry to part with her, but we are happy that she is returning to her own family where she can lead the rest of her life happily,” he added. Nisanka said that her sponsor had given her clothes and an allowance during the nine years she went without a salary.
The story of Nisanka ended amicably with a financial settlement of wages due, but the Sri Lankan Embassy has yet to provide further details in the case of Anista Marie, who was held a virtual slave in a Riyadh villa for eight years.
Riyadh police rescued Marie after she contacted Arab News on Aug. 14 claiming to have been imprisoned without pay in the villa. Marie was able to access a phone and call Arab News with the help of a family member who sympathized with her plight. She says she took the job 10 years ago and that problems began eight years ago when she stopped receiving her salary.
“I am thankful to all Sri Lankans who contributed and helped me in my release from the decade-long misery,” said Marie at a fund-raising event in September.
An embassy official told Arab News on Sept. 28 that they would try to recover Marie’s back wages, but no announcement has been made on any progress in this regard. Meanwhile, Marie’s sponsor has faced no criminal charges.
Marie’s case echoes a similar one in 2005 when Shanthi Menike Herath, a Sri Lankan maid from Kurnegala, about 70 km from Colombo, was rescued by Saudi authorities from a house near the Kuwaiti border after six years of virtual imprisonment. Herath had been working in the house without pay and had been prevented from sending letters to family back home or allowed to leave the house by the family.
Police responded after Sri Lankan officials reported that Herath’s 22-year-old son had been trying to track down his mother, whom he hadn’t heard from in three years.
Herath’s salary was paid after Saudi police mediated with the family, but no criminal charges were ever filed for false imprisonment.
