According to P. Balachandran, second secretary at the Indian Embassy in Riyadh, India will tighten restrictions on the recruitment of household service workers, including domestic workers, butlers, cooks and drivers, starting 1 September. The new measure imposes a mandatory $400 monthly salary for household workers and requires a $2,500 security deposit in the form of a bank guarantee from employers. Moreover, it requires employers to provide their domestic workers prepaid mobile phones. The new policy issued by the Indian government applies to household service workers employed in 18 countries, including Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Libya, Jordan, Sudan, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, Brunei, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. The measure would likewise apply to Iran should India allow the deployment of its workers there.
Ruminih Surtim, 25, and Tari Tarsim, 27, the two survivors in the violent assault on four Indonesian domestic workers early this month, were allegedly taken into police custody after being released from the Riyadh Medical Complex. The four Indonesians, who were working for the same employers in Aflaj, were allegedly beaten up by seven members of their Saudi employer's household on suspicion that they were practicing witchcraft on a child that got ill. The assault led to the death of Siti Tarwiyah Slamet, 32, and Susmiyati Abdul Fulan, 28. Saudi authorities have detained the seven household members involved in the attack. Meanwhile, Nasser Al-Dandani, the lawyer for the Indonesian Embassy, has accused the Saudi government of violating the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations by not informing the diplomatic mission immediately about the incident and of violating the Investigation and Public Prosecution procedures of the country by denying the surviving domestic workers access to legal consultation.
In related news, the New York-based watchdog, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Saudi Arabia was not doing enough to stop the abuse of domestic workers and accused the country's criminal justice system of blocking all attempts by abuse victims to seek redress.
OFW deaths
The family of three overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), Reno Lumbang, Jeremias Bucod and Dante Rivero, who were killed in Jeddah in April last year, are seeking the immediate repatriation of their relatives' remains and expressed openness to forgiving their killers. The three were victims of a gruesome murder committed by seven of their countrymen. A Jeddah court sentenced three of the accused – Edison Gonzales, his brother, Roland, and Eduardo Arcilla, to death while the rest – Victor Alfonso, Omar Basilio, Eften Dimahon and Joel Sinamban – were each sentenced to 1,000 lashes and eight years in prison. According to Philippine Consul General Pendosina Lamondot, under Saudi law, Arcilla and the Gonzales brothers could escape the death penalty if the victims' families forgive them and accept blood money. However, if the court rules that their offense is a heinous crime, they would be executed even if the aggrieved party forgives them.
Meanwhile, authorities are trying to find the kin of Febe Cabrido, a sewer who fell into a coma and was declared brain dead on 18 August at the Prince Salman Hospital. Cabrido allegedly told a colleague that she wanted to donate her organs to charity once she dies and any gratuities to be sent to her family in the Philippines. The consent of Cabrido's family is needed for the organ donation, but authorities have not been able to locate her husband and children.
Sixty-five year old Filipina shepherdess, Leonora Somera, has decided to give up her claim for back pay totaling SR63,000, saying she desperately wants to return home to see her daughter. However, a case pending in court, keeps her from returning home. Somera was first hired as a domestic worker 1987, but after only a few months, her sponsor died. She was then taken to Al-Baha to work for her sponsor's son. She was left alone to tend to 42 goats while her employer came to see her only during school holidays to give her small amounts of money. A Philippine consular team visiting Al-Baha in December 2005 rescued Somera and took her to the shelter for runaway workers at the Philippine Consulate in Jeddah. Consulate officials helped her file a case with the labor court against her employer to claim unpaid wages.
Authorities at the Al-Oraijah police station in Riyadh recently arrested a 30-year old Bangladeshi irregular migrant accused of attacking four women with acid last month. The victims, all Bangladeshi women working as cleaners at the Prince Salman Hospital, suffered chemical burns in various parts of their bodies. They were taken to the hospital immediately after the attack, but their condition is unknown.
Acting on a tip-off, authorities arrested 10 irregular immigrants coming from nearby Arab countries, who were found hiding at a resort in the suburbs of Riyadh. The police also apprehended six Saudi nationals for harboring the unauthorized residents at the resort.
Sources: AFP, "Two abused maids die, 2 critical," Bahrain Tribune, 16 August 2007; Reuters, "Saudi should do more to stop abuse of housemaids: Watchdog," The Peninsula, 18 August 2007; Mohammed Rasooldeen, "Riyadh police capture illegal immigrants," Arab News, 19 August 2007; Khalid Hasan, "HRW takes up workers' cause in Saudi Arabia," Daily News, 20 August 2007; "Kins seek repatriation of 'chop-chop' victims' remains from Jeddah," GMANews.TV, 20 August 2007; Czeriza Valencia, "Brain-dead OFW offered to donate organs," Malaya, 21 August 2007; Maha Akeel and Mohammed Rasooldeen, "Battered Indonesian maid held for questioning," Arab News, 22 August 2007; Francis Earl Cueto, "Repatriate victims' bodies, kin ask," The Manila Times, 22 August 2007; Abdul Hannan Faisal Tago, "Overstayer in acid attack on women arrested," Arab News, 23 August 2007; M. Ghazanfar Ali Khan, "India to impose restrictions on hiring of maids," Arab News, 23 August 2007; Reuters, "Indonesian maid held in Saudi," Bahrain Tribune, 23 August 2007; "OFW chooses family in RP over backpay in Saudi," GMANews.TV, 26 August 2007; "Second maid taken for questioning," Bahrain Tribune, 29 August 2007