Lankan among runaway maids held in Sharjah

Inspectors from the Sharjah Department of Naturalisation and Residency say they have found 25 runaway maids which included one Sri Lankan, living in a one-bedroom apartment.

Among the other 25 maids 15 were from Indonesia, and nine from the Philippines.

Furthermore, 39 maids who fled their jobs elsewhere in the emirates were found living illegally in Sharjah last month as part of ongoing inspections, said Col Dr Abdullah Ali Saeed bin Sahoo, department director.

There are increasingly more runaway maids in the emirate, bin Sahoo said, which is why the department is conducting raids. The campaign will continue until the end of the year, he said.

The department arrested 14 other maids, 13 Ethiopians and one Indian, who were living in the Abu Shagara, Buteena and Bu Daniq areas.

The runaway maids would find work by giving their phone numbers to building watchmen, who would approach residents and ask if they were looking for maids, bin Sahoo said.

Only nine of the maids arrested had Sharjah visas, he said, and others were from other emirates.- The National