Sri Lankan housemaids rescued from modern-day slavery in Saudi Arabia

Sri Lankan Embassy in Saudi Arabia has rescued two migrant workers who had been forced to perform domestic chores for 17 and ten years as ‘domestic slaves’.

Out of the two, 51-year old Kusuma Nandani a resident of Mathugama had been forced to work for nearly 17 years at Amir Salman Housing Complex in Riyadh.

The other D. P. Hemalatha from Galnewa (Anuradhapura) is said to be 45-years of age and was rescued after nearly ten years from a residence at Quaiya, a desert location 300 kilometers from Riyadh.

Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Labour will take appropriate action against their respective employees through the Sri Lanka Embassy in Riyadh.

Sri Lanka earns a staggering Rs. 425 bn (US $ 3.8bn) of private inward remittances annually from overseas domestic workers, with the majority employed in Saudi Arabia.

Of the 1.6 million Sri Lankan migrant workers in the Middle East, more than 600,000 work in Saudi Arabia, 300,000 in Kuwait, nearly 200,000 in United Arab Emirates (UAE), over 75,000 in Jordan, and 45,000 in Lebanon.

- Asian Tribune -