Middle Eastern Employment
- Sri Lankan Women & Rizana Nafeek
Time to Re-think Policies and Make Necessary Amendments
By Ramani D.Wickramaratne
Since 1980s when Sri Lanka with the so called "Open Economic Policies"
began to export Sri Lankan labour to Middle Eastern (not only Saudi
Arabia)countries as a means to solving the unemployment problem in the
country, we have read many horror stories of how our migrant workers
have met with inhuman deaths, torture, punishments, insults and quite
many have returned "home" in coffins minus vital organs or
returned "disabled" for life. Money for the family upkeep
has been the driving force behind Sri Lankans young and old going overseas
into the unknown and without adequate training for overseas jobs. Right
at the outset, employment agencies conduct decent agency work where
they charged a commission only from the overseas employer per each worker
supplied to them, in this way there was no financial burden on those
seeking employment overseas. However, before long unscrupulous employment
agencies began to mushroom in every city corner and with that, those
"seeking employment" in the Middle East had to beg, borrow
or steal or even mortgage what ever assets they had to pay employment
agencies at this end, to gain employment overseas and hopefully settle
their debts incurred here. That has left many a person penniless. Ofcourse,
the overall picture is that our migrant workers are the largest foreign
exchange earners for the Sri Lankan economy!
In this whole operation of employment "suppliers"(agencies),
employment seekers and the prospective employers there has been many
un-savoury activities that have gone unnoticed or rather "un-monitored"
and unpunished by the Sri Lankan Government because those who run these
un-savoury agencies most often, have connections to politicians of all
parties and Governments. If they don't, then they resort to bribing
such officials for them to gain unofficial permission to carry on their
activities. In this process employment agencies have gone to the extent
of conniving with the prospective job seekers to forge birthdays to
hide the actual age, names and even addresses and for an additional
fee for such services, have been exporting our Sri Lankan workers to
Middle Eastern countries. All this goes on with the consent of all parties
involved in the crime. There are job seekers who have paid amounts exceeding
Rs.100,000.00 to mushroom employment agencies(except for the few reputed
companies that provide this service still free-of-charge) and succeeded
in getting rich with "oil money" while there have been lots
who have returned after a couple of months without a penny because their
employers have refused to pay their salaries and even been inhuman enough
to confiscate their passports! Many are the instances where migrant
workers have discovered when they land in these foreign countries, that
they do not possess a valid Work Visa and there are no official employers
waiting for them!
Since July 2007 there has been much printed in the news media and shown
on TV regarding the death sentence meted out to 19 year old Rizana Nafeek
for the alleged murder of her Saudi Arabian employer's baby. In Rizana's
case too, it was reported in the Sunday Island of 22nd July,2007, that
"…she was 17 years at the time of leaving for Saudi Arabia
but had obtained a forged birth certificate which gave her age as 22
years, a mandatory requirement for employment in the Kingdom."
In this case, can we possibly assume that her parents were "not
parties to aiding and abetting in the forgery?" Can we expect a
young girl of 17 years, to understand the seriousness involved in baby
sitting or for that matter, being employed in a Muslim country and the
grueling chores that are thrust upon her by the employers who more often
than not, have no sympathy and no scruples? Earlier in the year 2007
in February, 4 males namely,Victor Corea,Ranjith Silva, Sanath Pushpakumara
and Sharmila Sangeeth Kumar were executed for alleged involvement in"
illegal activities" without even officially informing the Sri Lankan
Government.
In Rizana Nafeek's case, after much procrastination, Foreign Employment
Bureau, Foreign Ministry and finally the Asian Human Rights Commission
(with their agenda to criticize the Govt) have come forward to see what
steps could be taken to moot the sentence against this 19 year old young
girl who is at the mercy of the Saudi Arabian Authorities. Most recently
we have read in the news media that the JVP women's wing "Lankamawage
Diyaniyo" (as per The Island of 15-8-2007) have come forward to
offer "blood money" to save Rizana. Earlier it was reported
in the Sunday Times of 29th July 2007) "Bhaila act fails to spare
the axe" in which it was stated "Deputy Foreign Minister Hussein
Bhaila returns to Sri Lanka today empty handed after failing to secure
clemency for a Sri Lankan girl facing death by beheading in Saudi Arabia."
It was obvious that Mr. Bhaila had another agenda on his itinery as
well which was also reported in the same newspaper "Before departing
Colombo Mr Bhaila described his assignment in Saudi Arabia as a working
visit to save the life of Rizana. Having failed in his task, Mr Bhaila
used the visit to perform Umrah- a ritual similar to Haj- in the holy
city of Mecca and pay a visit to Medina" which reveals the fact
that his pilgrimage was more important than saving the life of Rizana-all
at State Expense! Being a Muslim himself, one would have expected him
to have been fully conversant about the formalities he had to follow
if he was to gain clemency for Rizana from the Saudi Authority.
In this whole issue of Sri Lankans seeking employment in Middle Eastern
countries, there are quite a few issues that need to be checked to avoid
future occurrences of situations similar to Rizana's case and that of
the other 4 males who actually faced the axe without Government mediation.
In the case of Rizana, we also need to question her parents as to why
they pushed her into going to the Middle East knowing full well what
would be in store for her as a maid in a Saudi Arabian household?
If the Sri Lankan Government wishes to enjoy the foreign exchange revenue
that it enjoys from remittances made by our migrant workers, then they
must ensure the following as a matter of respect and dignity for those
who bring in the revenue: (1) monitor all the activities of employment
agencies and check whether they are conforming to accepted practices;(2)
ensure that absolutely no forgeries of documents are being done either
by those seeking employment or the agencies sending them; (3) give a
fully informative orientation programme to all those who are seeking
employment in Middle Eastern countries about the discipline they must
maintain in a foreign land and also the severe consequences they will
face if they break the laws of those lands;(4) ensure that those seeking
employment are literate and understand fully the rules and regulations
they need to abide by and test their knowledge before they leave Sri
Lanka and ONLY if they pass, should their Visas be processed; (5) that
females under 21 years of age ARE NOT SENT to face inhuman treatment
at the hands of Middle Eastern employers; (6) that women who have children
under 15 years should not leave their children and families to suffer
here, while they go and toil unending hardships at the hands of Muslim
employers who it is known treat "women" with contempt; (7)
ensure that our Sri Lankan migrant workers are treated with due respect
and that their employers pay their monthly dues without harassment;
(8) understandably, our Sri Lankan Missions operating in the Middle
Eastern countries are under pressure due to migrant workers facing undue
problems. However, it is their bounden duty, to look after and safeguard
the interests of all Sri Lankans working in those countries-this is
duty that they cannot afford to treat lightly. If our own Mission is
not interested in our well being, can we expect Middle Eastern countries
to respect us?
Sometime ago, the Human Rights Watch had apparently opposed our Government
imposing a rule that females with minors as children should not be sent
abroad. How can they dictate terms to our government, when it is the
duty of our government to safeguard our interests? What is "human
rights" when whole families suffer at the hands of Middle Eastern
atrocities when our workers do not get a fair hearing in front of Muslim
laws? We need to seriously consider whether or not we should send our
female workers to these countries at all. It is far better to consider
generating employment projects for females within Sri Lanka in order
to ensure that children and whole families remain in tact. The Sri Lankan
Government must ensure the healthy growth of our nation-it is not for
others to dictate what we should or should not do. What is the cost
of the trauma the victim undergoes in a foreign land, the inconvenience
to State and families? What is the meaning of "earning money"
if that cannot be earned in a dignified and decent manner while working
among "employers" who think that money can do anything and
that they are not answerable to anyone not even the victim's family!
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