Saudi sponsors file cases against Sri Lankan housemaids

Mohammed Rasooldeen in Riyadh

Fifteen Saudi sponsors have filed cases against Sri Lankan housemaids who had run away from their homes.

The group of Sri Lankan housemaids are currently detained at the 91 camp in Dammam pending legal action. The sponsors claimed they spent around SR 15,000 to SR 20,000 each to recruit a maid from Colombo.

The maids had run away from their houses soon after they arrived in the Kingdom, it was alleged.With the help of local Police, the sponsors had the runaway maids arrested.

The Saudi sponsors are claiming damages to cover the money they spent on the recruitment of the maids.

In Colombo, there is a great demand for Saudi-bound housemaids.

The agents had to pay the maids around SR 5,000 prior to their departure to the Kingdom. According to the new labor contract introduced by the Sri Lankan government in June this year, a maid gets SR 750 as her monthly salary in the Kingdom.

According to an agent in Colombo, maids received six months salary in advance in Colombo before their departure to Saudi Arabia but some are still not content with the setup in the host country.

Meanwhile, the 15 maids who are being sued by their sponsors have sought the assistance of the Lankan government to repatriate them.

The maids said even though they had complained to the Sri Lankan Embassy in Riyadh regarding this matter, so far no action has been taken.

Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment Chairman Amal Senadilankara said they would be focusing on getting the maids home.

A senior official from the Sri Lankan Embassy rejected the maids story, claiming it was fabricated.

The diplomat, who wished to remain anonymous, said the housemaids ran away from their sponsors homes for trivial reasons.

He explained the sponsors have spent a lot of money recruiting them to the Kingdom and it was their right to claim their money back through legal means.

He said the maids cannot expect the mission to interfere as it is under the Kingdom's judicial purview.

The official said there are three more such cases before the court in Riyadh. He also said the Sri Lankan government is trying to find a way to stop such housemaids coming into the Kingdom. He added:"We want to ensure the interests of both employee and employer in such circumstances".