Source :

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/311506#ixzz1XyPzHYSg

Women in Saudi Arabia have innundated the governmentwith complaints over plans to import Moroccan women as housemaids. Thereason: Moroccan women are just too beautiful and may lure the Saudihusbands away.

Itis a relatively rare event when the voices of Saudi women are heard inprotest. This year there have been notable exceptions as some womenprotested for the right to drive, whilst others demanded the right to vote.Now they have another common cause as they put their foot down againstplans to bring female domestic maids from Morocco into the Kingdom.According to Emirates 24 the Shura Council was

“deluged by demands from Saudi women”

to suspend the plans. Considering that Saudi households have beendesperate for new maids since the government issued a ban effectivefrom Aug. 1 on any new domestic workers from Indonesia and thePhilippines, the refusal to accept Moroccan workers at first appearsodd. However it turns out that Moroccan women are considered too beautiful and may lure the Saudi husbands away from their wives. Emirates 247 says some of the Saudi complaints were

“Moroccan women are so attractive that their husbands could easily fall for them.”

Other stated concerns were

“Moroccans are good at magic and sorcery and that this could enable them to lure their husbands.”

In a country where adultery is punishable by stoning to death, Saudi women are exhibiting signs of great insecurity.The Saudi government promised the people that it would recruit moreworkers from different countries to make up for the loss of Indonesiansand Filipinos. It plans to extend its recruitment drive to Ethiopia,Mali, Nepal, Kenya and Eritrea. Last week Arab News reportedthat Saudi citizens would be given visas to give to bring housemaidsfrom Morocco, as there is no recruitment bureaus established there asyet. The ban on maids from Indonesia and the Philippines hit Saudihouseholds hard, causing many to resort to hiring illegal maids overRamadan. The Saudis are reliant on foreign workers to perform theirhousehold tasks for them and very few Saudi women will work in suchmenial positions despite high unemployment, as they would be lookeddown on by other Saudis. The ban came into effect following the two countries attempts tointroduce regulations for the work conditions of their nationals. Trade Arabia saidboth countries demanded better working conditions for their employees.Saudi walked away from the negotiations abruptly and decided to lookfor domestic employees from countries not as concerned about imposingregulations to protect their workers. It also became clear that lowerrates of pay could be offered to other nationals.Saudi Arabia is still smarting over criticisms of the beheading of Indonesian maid RoyatiSabotti in June, which came to international attention. Since then boththe Indonesian and Sri Lankan governments have intervened to arrangepayments of blood money to free housemaids from their countries thatwere facing the death penalty by execution.

Saudi woman jailed for 'maid abuse'

From Al-Jazeera

January 2011

A Saudi court has sentenced a woman to three years in prison for stabbing, beating and burning her Indonesian housemaid.

The woman, who has not been named, was sentenced under a newly-enacted anti-human trafficking royal decree, Saudi newspapers reported on Monday.

She had been accused of beating 23-year-old Sumiati Binti Salan Mustapa in November, and had allegedly left Sumiati with several broken bones, internal bleeding and severe bruising.

She was also alleged to have placed a hot iron to Sumiati's head and stabbing and slashing her with scissors.

Sumiati appeared in court last week to show the judge the marks of her wounds. She underwent surgery in November, but Diddi Wahyudi, an Indonesian consulate official in Jeddah, said she will need a further operation.

A lawyer for the Indonesian consulate, Abdulrahman al-Muhamadi, has said he will appeal the ruling and press for a tougher punishment, the Saudi newspaper al-Watan reported.

But Sumiati's Saudi employer insisted on Sunday that she was innocent and had nothing to do with the wounds. She has denied the charges against her and has said she will appeal against the sentencing.

International outcry

Sumiati's case sparked an international outcry and outraged rights groups and labour activists after she was admitted to hospital last year.

Saudi Arabia's labour ministry said it was sorry about the case, but called it an isolated incident.

Amnesty International, the London-based human-rights watchdog, has said the case could be just "the tip of the iceberg" concerning the "systematic abuse" of Asian women working as domestic servants in the Gulf region.

Gulf states "have to take steps to put an end to this horrific treatment of migrant domestic workers, by immediately removing the legal climate of impunity that allows employers to exploit, enslave, abuse, assault and injure their domestic workers with virtual impunity" Malcolm Smart, Amnesty's director for the Middle East and North Africa, said when the allegations surfaced.

More than 80,000 Indonesian domestic workers flock to Saudi Arabia every year. Rights groups say they, and other migrant workers, at times face slavery-like conditions and sexual abuse.

The New York-based group Human Rights Watch has also urged Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Kuwait to do more to protect domestic workers in their countries, saying a string of allegations point to a "broader pattern of abuse".

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