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Sri Lanka will gradually stop allowing women going to Saudi Arabia to be housemaids after a Sri Lankan was executed in the country over the death of an infant in her care, the Colombo government has said.
The Indian Ocean island nation recalled its envoy to Saudi Arabia in response to the beheading on January 9 of Rizana Nafeek, who was sentenced to death in 2007 accused of killing her employer's daughter while she was bottle-feeding.
The government said it would raise the minimum age for female domestic workers to be eligible to seek employment in Saudi Arabia to 25 years from the present 21 with an eye on eventually stopping such employment altogether.
"Gradual phase-out is the idea," said government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella. "We can't stop it overnight. It's a gradual process and increasing the age limit is part of that."
A third of the two million Sri Lankan maids working abroad are in Saudi Arabia, according to the country's foreign employment bureau.
Expatriate worker remittance, the top foreign exchange earner in the $59bn economy, hit a record $5.43bn in the first 11 months of 2012, higher than its annual peak of $5.14bn hit in 2011, central bank data showed.
Many households in the Middle East are highly dependent on housemaids from African and South Asian countries.
In some cases of reported domestic abuse, maids have attacked the children of their employers after they were mistreated themselves.
In the case of Nafeek, the Saudi Interior Ministry said, the infant was strangled after a dispute between her and the baby's mother.
It's typical and pretty sad that people here only blame the Saudis. What these people seem to forget is that Indian institutions and contractors are the... more
Monday, 17 June 2013 9:06 AM - narendramodiI am wondering why this article is being published here? it is really useless. anyway, I in certain ways agree with the Mufti. god bless Saudi Arabia more
Tuesday, 18 June 2013 9:27 AM - FaisalThe point?? That's simple, you will have to pay to register/ create the contract, then there will be a processing and admin fee. All helping your child... more
Tuesday, 18 June 2013 9:26 AM - Bobby
@anguilla: Kalba town is part of the Sharjah Emirate.
along with khor fakkan and dibba al hisn.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharjah_%28emirate... more
It's typical and pretty sad that people here only blame the Saudis. What these people seem to forget is that Indian institutions and contractors are the... more
Monday, 17 June 2013 9:06 AM - narendramodiI am wondering why this article is being published here? it is really useless. anyway, I in certain ways agree with the Mufti. god bless Saudi Arabia more
Tuesday, 18 June 2013 9:27 AM - Faisal@ Henry, enough of whining, the host country does not need you, it is your employer that needs your services and you know well enough that you can be made... more
Saturday, 1 June 2013 11:32 AM - ZainOrganizations like HRW, Green peace, ILO, UNHCR are so self serving that it is amazing they still exist! they spend 60/70 percent of their budgets (meant... more
Thursday, 30 May 2013 7:53 PM - NavinIf one wants to visit or live in Bahrain one must abide by the laws. Living without pork is no huge sacrifice. Muslim and Jewish nations subscribe to this... more
Saturday, 25 May 2013 6:05 PM - Jeffrey Kershaw
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