Saudi set to issue housemaid protection law

The murder of an Indonesian housemaid and the torture of another in Saudi Arabia could prompt the Gulf kingdom to accelerate the enforcement of new laws to protect foreign maids against abuse by their employers.

The kingdom’s Shura council (appointed parliament) said it had completed a study on proposals for the protection of foreign maids and presented it to the cabinet for approval nearly nine months ago.

Local newspapers said the recent incidents involving maid abuse and ensuing angry reactions by Amnesty International are expected to expedite the issuance of legislations regulating the relationship between Saudi employers and their foreign housemaids and setting a mechanism to ensure protection for them. “We have finished a study comprising recommendations to regulate the relationship between employers and housemaids and presented it to the cabinet for endorsement,” said Saud Al Shammari, a Shura member.

“This study defines that relationship from the date of recruitment to the date of expiry of service…it defines work hours and takes into consideration the fact that housemaids should have a break during work…we have also proposed a mechanism to tackle any dispute between the employer and the maid.”

Saudi newspapers also quoted a local human rights activist as saying the recent incidents should prompt authorities to quickly issue the new laws. “There is a need now to issue the law for the protection of housemaids in the kingdom…this law, which has been considered by Shura, must guarantee the rights of both parties — the employer and the employee…it also must include clear mechanisms for the settlement of any dispute.”

Furor has erupted in Saudi Arabia over the past few weeks following reports that an Indonesian housemaid was severely tortured by her female employer.

Sumiati Salan Mustapa, 23, was still lying in hospital after she underwent a head surgery this week to treat bad wounds on her scalp caused by the alleged use of hot iron by her Saudi employer in the central town of Madina. Fresh reports surfaced after that incident that another Indonesian maid was murdered by her Saudi employer in the southwestern town of Abha. The killer was reported to have confessed to murdering of the 36-year-old maid and said he did so because she had insulted his mother.

The discovery of Kikim Komalasari’s body in a bin was reported by local newspapers on November 19 and came as Indonesian officials travelled to Saudi Arabia to investigate the abuse of Mustapa.

Saudi Arabia’s main human rights group has strongly sympathised with Mustapa and said they would appoint a lawyer for her to ensure she gets all her rights and that her employer will be tried according to Islamic law. “We call on the Ministry of Justice to issue official statements about these incidents and expose their perpetrators to safeguard the reputation of the kingdom abroad,” said Bandar Al Abyan, Chairman of the Saudi Human Rights Commission.

“We express our deep regret for such incidents and believe the perpetrators must be punished…we are also convinced that these are individual incidents that do not reflect the true ethics of the country.” But that was not the view of Amnesty International, which has accused Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations of massive abuse of housemaids and urged measures by their authorities to curb such violations. “We fear that these two abhorrent cases are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the systematic abuse suffered by women employed as domestic servants in the region,” said Malcolm Smart, Middle East and North Africa Director of Amnesty International.

“Saudi Arabia and all the Gulf states have to take steps to put an end to this horrific treatment of migrant domestic workers”.

Gulf oil producers are heavily reliant on domestic workers given their high per capita income, with more than two million maids working in the region.

Nearly half of them are based in Saudi Arabia, which has a population of around 27 million, with Saudis accounting for about 68 per cent. According to the Saudi Sharq Arabic language daily, nearly 500,000 Indonesian housemaids work in the Kingdom, the largest GCC country and home to more than a fifth of the world’s proven oil wealth.

According to Amnesty, Gulf employers commonly retain the passports of their domestic workers, which may result in detained maids being held at deportation centres for weeks or months, while their paperwork is being completed. 
 
In addition, some domestic workers are not allowed to leave the house where they work without permission from their employers.  They are often required to work excessive hours for inadequate pay. “These gross abuses will continue to come to light unless governments in the region give migrant domestic workers the rights that are their due,” Smart said.

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