Bangladeshi female workers, who left for Saudi Arabia to turn their life around, are suffering abuse, harassment, and inhumane behaviour there.
On Saturday night, another 66 female workers returned home. One of these women, Labony (not real name) told the Bangla Tribune about her ordeal while working as a domestic help in Saudi Arabia for the past two years.
Speaking to the correspondent, she said: “I dusted a total of ten rooms every day, but they did not give me proper meals. My employer abused me and prevented me from quitting the job. Whenever I wanted to quit, my employer physically assaulted me.”
Many women had similar experiences in Saudi Arabia. The security personnel of Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka revealed that more and more female workers are returning home every day. And they all have tales of abuse to share.
An airport security official, preferring to be anonymous, said: “The female workers start crying as soon as they arrive in Dhaka. Many security personnel help these women with food and money, and arrange for them to get home.
“Many of these women bear injury marks and wounds on their body.”
Labony’s tale of abuse
Labony left Bangladesh for Riyadh two years ago. She was kept in a jail-like shelter for 15 days. She was later sent to Al Kharj city, 77 kilometres from the shelter she was kept in. She worked there for four months, for a salary of 1,000 riyals per month.
Her employers prevented her from contacting her family.
Labony told the correspondent: “I paid a middleman named Miraj Tk60,000, for sending me to Saudi Arabia. He said it is a decent place to work.
“I was sold to an employer after I reached Saudi Arabia. I tried to escape after suffering abuse at the hands of my employer, but I was caught. They then captured me and sold me to another company for Tk600,000.”
She continued: “I saw hundreds of women in that company, being forced to engage in prostitution. I called my husband the first chance I got, and told him everything. I was rescued by the Bangladesh Embassy in Saudi Arabia.
“The embassy also helped me claim my due salary from my previous employer.”
Overworked and mistreated
Nasima Khatun is one of the women who came back home recently. She went to Saudi Arabia only two months ago.
When asked about the reason behind her return to Bangladesh, she broke down sobbing in front of the correspondent.
Describing her experience, she said: “I was incarcerated for 15 days after arriving in Saudi Arabia. I paid a middleman Tk10,000 to get there, for a salary of 1,000 riyals.
“I was hired as a domestic help. The employer’s wife used to beat me up with sticks. I could not even speak their language.”
She continued: “I was later sent to another home as a domestic help. They told me that it would be a small family, but the family was huge. I managed to escape to the embassy, and was sent back home.
“I did not get my passport back, and they never paid me my salary. I returned empty handed.”
An accurate database depicting the total number of Bangladeshi women working in Saudi Arabia is yet to be created.
Several female workers told the correspondent that at least 80 women returned from Saudi Arabia in a recent fight. Around 50 women are presently being kept at an immigration camp, and hundreds are waiting at the Bangladesh Embassy in Riyadh.
Secretary of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Secretary Dr Namita Haldar however said: “It is not true that Bangladeshi women face a complete lack of safety and security in Saudi Arabia.
“We have informed the Saudi government about complaints lodged by these workers.”
She added: “The Saudi government told us that 45% of the female workers of Bangladesh return home by breaching their contracts, and they do so within three months of going there.
“I can personally confirm that not all complaints of physical abuse are true.”
A migration program backed by BRAC arranged the return of 12 of the 66 women who returned home from Saudi Arabia on Saturday.
Adding that female workers are returning home every day, Chief of BRAC’s migration program, Shariful Hassan said: “It is not believable that women who sold everything to go abroad in search of work, would return without proper reason.
“They told us about the abuse they face, and we see the wounds on their body. If we are not confident enough to send our own daughters to Saudi Arabia, why would we send these women there?”
