500 Lankan housemaids are languishin​g in detention camps in Saudi Arabia

500 Lankan housemaids are languishin?g in detention camps in Saudi Arabia[ Wednesday, 06 July 2011, 01:41.08 PM GMT +05:30 ]Reports have emerged that over 500 Sri Lanka housemaids are languishing in detention camps in Saudi Arabia.

The women are staying in these camps with the hope of returning to Sri Lanka.

It is reported that while around 150 Sri Lankan housemaids are in the camp, around 350 are in a safe house which is run by the Sri Lankan embassy in Saudi Arabia.

Newsfirst contacted the Sri Lankan embassy in Saudi Arabia to inquire into these reports.

An officer at the embassy stated that illegal Sri Lankan housemaids who have faced various forms of abuse  in the hands of their employers and those whose visas have expired, are those languishing at these camps.

He noted that immediately after legal proceedings are completed, they will be repatriated.

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Lankan housemaid says she was not paid for over 15 years by employers in Saudi Arabia

Lankan housemaid says she was not paid for over 15 years by employers in Saudi Arabia[ Monday, 04 July 2011, 04:22.33 AM GMT +05:30 ]A Sri Lankan housemaid says she was not paid for over 15 years by employers in Saudi Arabia. GD Kusuma Nandani was speaking to BBC Sandeshaya from the Olaya detention centre where she is currently held by Sri Lankan authorities.

"I was paid for few months, then they suddenly stopped paying me accusing me of forgetting to give pocket money for the children I looked after before they went to the school," she said.

She, however, stressed that she was not ill-treated by the employers other than keeping her illegally without extending her visa.

"But they did not allow any contact with my family -my husband, son and daughter".

She claims to have worked for another year with no pay.

"One day the employer suddenly ordered me to go out. I had nowhere to go but walked out and met my new employer who only paid me only for one year," she told BBC Sinhala service.

When she first managed to call home, she says, the family surprised and begged her to come back home as soon as possible.

However, she is unable to go due to being detained in the camp while authorities finalise immigration formalities.

"Embassy officials are also trying to get hold of my previous employer who did not pay me for 15 years. But that family has vacated that house."

Suspicious death:

An official at the SL embassy in Riyadh told BBC Sandeshaya that the report regarding the case is with Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau (SLFEB).

The head of the SLFEB in Colombo could not be contacted.

Meanwhile, relatives of a housemaid whose body was returned to Sri Lanka on Saturday suspect foul play.

They believe that Seetha Nimali, of Kanjukkuliya, Chilaw was murdered while in Jordan.

Sri Lanka police say Ms Nimali was pronounced dead on 30 May. Her funeral was held on Sunday.

Minister of Civil Aviation and Puttalam district MP Priyankara Jayaratne told BBC Sandeshaya that he will take up the issue with parliamentary advisory committee.

"Many similar incidents go unrecorded," he told journalist Prasad Purnimal Jayamanne.

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Lankan woman faces 'death by beheading' in Saudi Arabia

Sri Lankan born Nafeek, who alleges she was a teenager at the time of the incident, has vehemently denied all allegations against her, saying that she had desperately tried to save the child, who choked while she was looking after it.

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