July 22, 2013 | Saudi Gazette
By Mahmoud Ahmad*
The Ministry of Labor recently suspended temporarily the recruitment of Ethiopian housemaids to the Kingdom after a series of attacks and murders against children. The reason was to avail of time to conduct the necessary studies and analyze available data on these crimes.
These murders happened within a short period of time and sparked public anger against Ethiopian maids and brought back memories of the recent attack against this nationality a few months back.
These attacks included the stabbing to death of an 11-year-old Syrian girl in Riyadh, a crime that shocked the Riyadh community. The second crime occurred early this month when a 26-year-old Ethiopian maid killed a six-year-old girl in her home by slitting her throat with a cleaver. This is in addition to many other attempts of similar attacks that were prevented in the last minute.
I was browsing through the Internet when I came across the video of the interview in Al-Ekhbariya Saudi Channel with the Ethiopian maid who killed Esra. When asked why she killed her, she said she killed her because she was crazy and not in her right mind. She was in the Kingdom for seven months before she killed the child.
She was working at first with a Saudi family before she went to the victim's family. The maid claimed that she wanted to go home but the family said no. It was a clear indication that she killed the child in retaliation against the family for not allowing her to travel back home.
Again I say here that I am against racially profiling a certain nationality because of the action of a minority. Crime does not have a nationality and crimes are committed by many other nationals. We should not apply collective punishment against this nationality because of the action of a few.
We have to remember that similar crimes were committed by other nationals but we haven't seen similar reaction toward them.
The maid said something very important, she said that she was crazy and not in her right frame of mind. Whether that is true or not, it is something that we need to evaluate and give the highest consideration.
Could it be possible that she was mentally unstable and then was brought to Saudi Arabia to work? Who is responsible for checking the mental state of the person coming to Saudi Arabia for work? Is a psychiatric evaluation done?
A simple test of their mental state can be done on arrival in the Kingdom, especially for those who are to work near or with a family. This evaluation can be carried out when they undergo a medical test to check them of their physical state before filing for their residence permit.
I sympathize with all the families of the victims and share the pain they are going through on losing their loved ones to a crime like this which is beyond imagination and we are calling on the authorities to put these maids on trial and let them answer for their crimes.
I will talk now in general and, in this, I do not want here to refer to the care of the families of the victims. But there is always another side to the story why maids get violent and are more prone to commit a crime.
There are families who treat maids with mistrust no matter what she does.
As soon as she arrives in Saudi Arabia she is immediately locked inside a house for many weeks and sometimes for months and banned from any outside interaction.
All that the maid sees around her is the walls of the house and more work day by day inside the house such that she ends up working day and night with little time to rest.
Some maids, for the sake of making a living to feed her family back home, will bear this kind of situation, while some will look at it in another any way and retaliate.
I believe there is poor coordination between Saudi Arabia and the countries where workers and maids are recruited. Little effort is taken, whether at the country of recruitment or here, to check the mental stability of the recruited workers. Even a background check for criminal record before they are sent to Saudi Arabia could be cursory.
We have seen how some workers brought to Saudi Arabia on work visa later turned out to be top-class forgers. If there was a background check made by offices in those countries then they should not be here in Saudi Arabia.
We need to evaluate and hold accountable the recruitment offices in the Kingdom and in the countries where maids are recruited for failing to make sure the maids are fit to work and not just focus on making a quick profit.
In addition, we should understand that maids are recruited to take care of the house and household chores and not the children. Children are the responsibility of the family.
Maids should not be overworked. They should be given a break weekly, in order for them to enjoy some free time like the rest. It would also enable the family to share some quality time among themselves.
If we need to give the responsibility of caring for children to someone other than the family, then it should be to a professional nanny and not to housemaids. In addition, the nanny’s testimonials should be checked and she should have a clean and spotless record before being hired.
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* The writer can be reached at mahmad@saudigazette.com.sa
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