Roshan Sedhai

The Nepali embassy in Saudi Arabia has rescued 126 Nepali women in the past three months, most of them subjected to serious economic, sexual and psychological exploitation at the hands of their employers.

According to documents obtained from the Nepali embassy in Saudi Arabia , the women had entered the Gulf Kingdom illegally to work as housemaids. The rescues were made from September 17 to December 15.

Many victims, most of them under 30, have told the embassy that their employers confiscated their passports, denied payment or paid them poorly, abused them sexually while keeping them in captivity. Some even said they were denied food and water and were beaten up.

“My employer locked me in whenever they went out. I was denied food for not being able to work properly,” said Maya Pariyar (name changed) of Rudrapur-9, Rupandehi. She was rescued and sent back to Nepal by the embassy a few months ago.

Most of the women had entered Saudi Arabia via India and they had to bribe officials at the Tribhuvan International Airport through manpower agents as it is illegal for Nepali women under 30 to go for employment as maids in the Gulf. The embassy officials said though the government has banned entry of maids to the Gulf, human traffickers continue to smuggle poor and illiterate women.

Embassy officials said they have noted the names and addresses of the traffickers and their agents and would soon ask the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and concerned government authorities to book them.

The expenses incurred while sending the rescued women back to Nepal were borne partially by the embassy and the funds raised by the local Nepali diaspora.

Given the risks involved, the Nepali embassy in Saudi Arabia has imposed a ban on the entry of Nepali maids of all age groups.

The government has imposed a ban on the entry of women below 30 into all Gulf countries.

The Saudi government announced a mass amnesty programme for illegal migrants to get out of the country without punishment. But hardly 300 women turned up in the seven-month period, while the embassy records show nearly 35,000 benefited from the amnesty.

“Though they entered the country illegally, they are considered legal by the Saudi authority. That’s why both the amnesty and crackdown didn’t affect the housemaids,” said Nepal’s envoy Udaya Raj Pandey.

Both government officials and manpower agencies claim the age ban has pushed women to predominantly rely on traffickers who are taking them through more dangerous routes charging unfair sums. “Many girls under 30 are obtaining approvals under re-entry category as there is no age bar for it. Others have been resorting to extreme means such as faking age,” said an official at the Ministry of Labour and Employment. Divash Acharya, spokesman of the Department of Foreign Employment, admitted that many women are going to work as housemaids in Gulf countries through Indian airports but said there has been a decline in the trend of going through TIA setting.

Published on: 7 January 2014 | The Kathmandu Post