Citizen files case demanding a ban on Ethiopian maids

KUWAIT: A citizen recently filed a case against the Interior Ministry demanding a ban on bringing domestic labor from Ethiopia. The man justified his case by saying that Ethiopian maids are responsible for a rising number of murders. (The Ethiopian Embassy in Kuwait could not be reached for comments although this reporter visited their Embassy in Jabriya for a response). A secretary of the Ethiopian embassy clarified that the embassy was not aware of the petition and has continued to hire Ethiopians.

Saudi has already banned Ethiopian workers from entering the country following reports of crimes against children committed by maids from the African nation. The Labor Ministry and the Interior Ministry have agreed to “temporarily” stop workers from Ethiopia entering the country, SPA state news agency said. It said the ban will remain in place until the completion of investigation into “recent incidents”, in reference to crimes reported in local media.

Several media outlets have reported instances of children being killed allegedly by Ethiopian domestic workers, including two cases in the capital. The oil-rich kingdom, which hosts some eight million foreign workers, mostly from South Asian nations, introduced new rules this week for domestic workers, including allowing them a weekly day off apart from being paid on time. It also urged workers to respect Islam, the religion of the ultra-conservative Kingdom, and to “obey” employers.

But some employers in Kuwait said that Ethiopian housemaids are very trustworthy and hardworking people. “I think it depends on the employer. If you treat them well as employees, they will respect you. They are human beings like us, so I don’t think they are different from Filipinos or Indonesian housemaids,” a Kuwaiti employer told this reporter. She said that she has four Ethiopian housemaids and all of them were kind, hardworking and honest. “I treat them as employees and they are good people. The only problem is that I don’t want to lose them and in fact, want more Ethiopians to work with me. One of them is already my personal secretary,” she added.

The cost of hiring Ethiopian housemaids according to a recruitment agency owner is between KD 420-450. “The cost is cheaper compared to hiring Filipinos. Nowadays, they cost around KD 700-800,” the agency owner admitted. The Filipino community has already requested that Filipinos stop coming to Kuwait, in response to the growing number of cases of maltreatment, abuse and rape of Filipinas. The Philippine Embassy recently organized a forum to listen to the voices of Filipinos who are pro and against the call for a moratorium (suspension) of sending housemaids to Kuwait and other GCC countries.

By Ben Garcia, Staff Writer