Saudi women object to import of Moroccan maids as too beautiful

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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.

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