Home sweet home finally for Lankan maid

Mohammed Rasooldeen in Riyadh

On the eve of her departure to Sri Lanka, Anista Marie , the housemaid who was treated like a slave in a Saudi household for eight years, thanked Arab News for bringing her case to public notice which gave her freedom to reach her home sweet home.

“ If it were not for the efforts of Arab News to whom I first lodged my complaints , I would not have seen the light of the day, “ Marie, who was set to leave Wednesday, said.

“I am thankful to all Sri Lankans who contributed and helped me in my release from the decade-long misery,” said Marie.

“ Now I am going home with jingling pockets because of the generosity of the benefactors who helped me without any reservation.”

Her air ticket was provided by the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) which looks after overseas worker interests.

W. S.M.S Wijesundera charge d’ affairs of the Sri Lankan mission in Riyadh said when Riyadh police rescued Marie on September 5 they had initially demanded that the sponsor give up her passport; she refused with impunity. He added that the delay in sending her home was mainly due to the non-availability of her passport.

“We have to prepare a Temporary Travel document for her to reach Sri

Lanka. This takes time to get it processed through the Sri Lankan and Saudi governments.” Marie’s case came to light when she called Arab News on August 14 claiming to be working in slave-like conditions at a residency in Riyadh.

Marie was able to access the phone and call Arab News with the help of a family member who sympathised with her plight. She says she took the job 10 years ago and that problems began eight years ago when she stopped receiving her salary.

When she initially spoke to Arab News, Marie said she was unsure of her exact location. It took about three weeks for police to track down the location of the residency in Khansalallilah district, 12 kilometers away from downtown Riyadh. Saudi security authorities working in cooperation with officials from the Sri Lankan Embassy in Riyadh rescued Marie.

Her eight years’ back salary, holiday pay and home ticket amounted to SR 40,000. However, at the conclusion of the negotiations, the sponsor agreed to pay SR 20,000 and had given the mission SR 8,500 in cash and the balance to be paid in monthly installments of SR 1,000, which would be remitted to Marie to her Sri Lankan address.

Marie’s sponsor escaped the court charges since the mission decided

to wind up the case due to Marie’s anxiety to go home as quickly as possible .At one stage, she was prepared to go home without her salary due. Marie is from a poverty-stricken fishing family, from Chilaw. The maid

has four children, including two girls. Her eldest son was 10 years old at the time of her departure for Saudi Arabia. During this period, Marie lost her fisherman husband in Sri Lanka but she came to know of it two years later through a third party.

In a gesture befitting the month of Ramadan, Sri Lankan expatriates in the capital raised about SR6,500 for Marie at a grand iftar party at the Sri Lankan Embassy .

Realising Marie’s plight, the guests at the party voluntarily decided to give a purse to Marie who was freed from the bondage. Half of the contribution was made by Unique Choice International, a Riyadh-based company managed by a prominent Sri Lankan.