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http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article204805.ece
Worker abuse is part of a bigger problem, experts say
By DIANA AL-JASSEM | ARAB NEWS
Published: Nov 30, 2010 23:33 Updated: Nov 30, 2010 23:33
JEDDAH: With a number of cases of maid abuse coming to light recently, especially that of an Indonesian maid in Madinah, expatriate workers in the Kingdom say such incidents happen often and go unreported.
Although the Ministry of Labor issued a statement confirming that what happened to Sumiati Salan Mustapa, the maid who was allegedly tortured by her employer in Madinah, was not the norm, expatriate workers and the media say there is a problem in Saudi society.
"What happened to Sumiati is an example of what is happening to many expatriate workers and maids which goes unreported," said Aisha Matwani, an Ethiopian maid who works for a Syrian family in Jeddah.
Matwani said she has heard of many violent incidents from relatives and friends who work for Saudi families. "This is why I'm afraid of working for a Saudi family. These days, Saudi families pay higher salaries. I can earn SR1,500 a month, but I prefer to earn less and remain safe by working for an expatriate family," she said.
Ibrahim Shahid, a Pakistani engineer who works for a private construction company, believes treating expatriate workers poorly is part of Saudi nature. "Saudis do not know how to deal with people gently. They abuse their wives, daughters and sisters. Abusing maids and workers is part of their nature," he said.
"Saudis believe that all expatriates, educated and uneducated, are in the Kingdom just to serve Saudis and make money," he added.
Kamal Al-Sha'er, a Palestinian shopkeeper and father of three, said Saudis intentionally abuse expatriate workers. "Saudis do that to keep them under control when it comes to work. They believe that workers will stay in line when treated aggressively," said Al-Sha'er.
Saud Al-Kateb, a member of the Asbar Center for Studies, Research and Communications, said that the Sumiati case is an isolated one and that people should not make generalized assumptions about the Kingdom on its basis. "We should not generalize that all Saudis are abusing expatriate workers. Unfortunately, Saudis misunderstand their workers' rights. They treat workers like robots. Such poor treatment is not a result of a wild Saudi nature, but a result of their lack of knowledge of how to treat workers," said Al-Kateb.
"Saudi habits may not be acceptable to others. For example, they insult maids all the time. It is not only elderly people who insult maids, but children also do that because they learn it from their parents. Saudi children never respect maids because they are simply non-Saudi workers," he said, adding that beating maids is not a widespread phenomenon among Saudi families.
There are no statistics about maid abuse in the Kingdom. According to the Ministry of Labor, the Kingdom has over 670,000 maids of different nationalities.
"Expatriate workers show more respect to Saudi managers than expatriate managers. When a maid works for an expatriate family, she sometimes breaks rules, but when she works for a Saudi family she follows the rules strictly. This is because of the general idea that expatriates have about Saudis. They believe that Saudis can hurt them but expatriates can't," said Al-Kateb.
"Saudi women always accuse expatriate maids of immoral behavior, but this is not true. Expatriate maids have left their country to work and earn money for their families back home, not to make relations and hurt the families that they work for. If the family treats the maid nicely, then the maid will never hurt anyone," he said.
Suhaila Zain Al-Abidin, a member of the National Society for Human Rights, said that expatriate workers, especially maids, force Saudi families to mistreat them. "Saudis are not savage or wild people. They respect expatriate workers and treat them according to Islamic rules. Expatriate workers force families to abuse them by being not trustworthy," she said.
"Families always respect workers by giving them their rights, paying them their salaries on time and giving them vacations. When the families treat workers well, the workers start crossing the line and making mistakes. Such mistakes force families to mistreat them."
According to Zain Al-Abidin, families that suffer from slacking workers or maids should deport them immediately without abusing them or violating their rights.
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