JEDDAH, 10 June — There has been a 25 percent increase in cases of runaway Sri Lankan maids.
According to the Sri Lankan consulate, it dealt with 250 such cases in the first five months of 2002, as against 200 in the corresponding period in 2001 and 531 in the whole of that year. Of 175 maids who were provided shelter at the consulate in the recent months, 150 have returned home.
“It is against this background that the consulate has made an insurance scheme applicable to take care of mounting expenses involved in their stay, upkeep, health care and repatriation,” Consul General A.C.M. Ibrahim told reporters over the weekend.
The Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE), which has been promoting the island’s manpower overseas, as well as the welfare and protection of migrant workers since 1985, has an ongoing Suraksha (protection) Insurance Scheme. It has been made mandatory for those leaving for employment abroad to register with the SLBFE and its insurance scheme. Sri Lankans going abroad for employment have to pay between 5,850 and 11,475 Sri Lankan rupees (SR360-SR720), depending on their expected salary.
“There is a misconception that the scheme is applicable to only Sri Lankans seeking jobs in the Gulf. Legally, all Sri Lankans who go abroad for employment, including to countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Korea and the United States, need to register with the bureau,” Ibrahim emphasized.
The insurance scheme has helped the consulate a great deal in meeting the expenses incurred in the case of runaway maids especially.
“They are accommodated on the top floor of the consulate, some of them need hospital treatment and they need to be provided with a one way ticket home. So we draw funds for all such expenses from the SLBFE’s insurance plan,” Ibrahim said.
Asked who paid premiums for the insurance, the consul general said: “The local recruiting agent in Sri Lanka pays the premiums. Of course, he gets paid by his counterpart in the Kingdom.”
The consulate has met with success in resolving 75 percent of the cases of runaway maids.
“What we do is to establish contact with maids’ sponsors and bring about a compromise. We’ve succeeded in making sponsors take back their maids. If that does not happen, we see to it that sponsors clear the dues of the maids and pay for their one-way ticket home. In 25 percent of cases, we have failed because maids have not been able to furnish contacts of their sponsors. Such maids are left with two choices — deportation by the police or waiting until SLBFE’s insurance money is received,” Ibrahim said.
He cited a lack of knowledge of Saudi culture, lifestyle and language among incoming maids as the main reasons for their frustration.
“Of course, there are also complaints of harassment, torture and physical abuse,” Ibrahim said, adding that there was urgent need for proper orientation of all Sri Lankans heading for the Kingdom or elsewhere in the Gulf.
Sri Lankan expatriates in the Western Province total 100,000. Sixty percent of these are housemaids, drivers and laborers. The rest of the Kingdom has 180,000 expatriates from the island nation.
