Many RI Migrant Workers in Saudi Arabia Treated Cruelly

Tuesday, July 8,2008 : HRWSource: Antara NewsMany Indonesian migrant workers in Saudi Arabia endured serious human rights violation and horrendous cruelties, according to the latest report of Human Rights Watch (HRW) released here Tuesday.

"Therefore, the Saudi Arabian government should immediately effect reforms in its manpower and immigration sectors, and its criminal courts to protect migrant workers in the country from criminal acts and enslavement," HRW executive director Kenneth Roth said at a press conference.

A 155-page report titled: "As If I Were Not a Human Being: Arbitrary Action Against Household Workers from Asia in Saudi Arabia" said many Saudi Arabian employers who violated human rights did not face proper punishment for their arbitrary action against migrant workers who worked as house maids.

According to the report, many Saudi Arabian employers had committed sexual and physical violence against their house maids, and failed to pay their salaries for months, even years, and sometimes forcefully confined them.

"If the house maids in Saudi Arabia were lucky, they would enjoy good working conditions with good bosses, but otherwise they would be treated like slaves," said Nisha Varia, a senior observer at HPW's Women Rights Division. She said Saudi Arabia was employing at least 1.5 million house maids from Asian countries such as Indonesia, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Nepal.

"We cannot obtain definite statistical data on the number of the cases, but we have found out that every year thousands of problematic migrant workers are accommodated at Saudi Arabian Social Affairs Ministry offices and the embassies of their original countries," Nisha said. She said many of the migrant workers were forced to work 18 hours per day, seven days a week. After interviewing 86 migrant house maids, HRW concluded that some 36 workers had endured arbitrary action from their employers such as human trade, slavery, and forced labor.