World

Saudi Arabia temporarily bans Ethiopian workers

Labour ministry and the interior ministry have agreed to "temporarily" stop the importation of workers from Ethiopia.

Afp July 17, 2013

the ban will remain in place until the completion of investigation into quot recent incidents quot in reference to crimes reported in local media photo file

The ban will remain in place until the completion of investigation into "recent incidents", in reference to crimes reported in local media. PHOTO: FILE

RIYADH: Saudi authorities on Wednesday banned Ethiopian workers from entering the country following reports of crimes against children committed by maids from the African nation.

The labour ministry and the interior ministry have agreed to "temporarily" stop the importation of workers from Ethiopia, 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 this week new rules setting the rights for domestic workers, including getting a weekly day off and being paid on time.

But it also urged workers to respect Islam, the religion of the ultra-conservative kingdom, and to "obey" employers.

COMMENTS (8)

Kirity | 10 years ago | Reply My wife & I am from ethiopia; working in Saudi & it has been 2 months since we get here. But our sponsors are not good persons. My wife is maid, they make her to work 15 hours in a day with no rest all month. Calculate it that how many hours she work in a month & her salary is 900 SR. They still does not give us any food. What I mean is the problem is not with the maids. The problem is still with the sponsors (Khafils) how they treat they workers. We Ethiopians are raised in the proper way. Nobody can tell as what is obey means or how to respect Islams culture. We are Ethiopians where Muslims & Christans living together with no separation and respecting one another like a brother for many several years. I said Saudi Arabia citizens are the one who have to be critisized for this problem. They should have some manners & respect every human kind. ONLY GOD CAN JUDGE US.

Adel | 10 years ago | Reply

This is not a right solution to ban Ethiopians ,I have a good ethiopian maid in my house .Investigation and baning are so diffrent please consider it in a good other solution