The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has often been heavily criticized for its maltreatment of foreign workers, and the abuses that some receive at the hands of employers.<\/p>\n
The Ghanaian Embassy in Saudi Arabia, in May this year, cautioned Ghanaian youth living in Ghana, especially ladies who have made plans of traveling to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states for so-called greener pastures to be extremely mindful of the unfavorable working conditions for foreign unskilled workers such as house maids and other laborers.<\/p>\n
The embassy described as regrettable the wave at which both Ghanaian agents and their foreign counterparts mislead prospective Ghanaian workers by promising them non-existent juicy offers which turn out to be a hell for most of these workers, noting that \u201c it was\u00a0 overwhelmed with cases of Ghanaian domestic workers (house maids) who have fallen victim\u00a0 to deceits by unscrupulous agents both in Saudi Arabia and Ghana.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”NKTWzdy34EHX5mcJXRZv4ZQBRtMyliAM”]According to the 2015 International Migration Report, Saudi Arabia hosted 10 million migrants. \u00a0The 2016 Gobal Detention Project, quoting a Middle-East online advocacy forum; Migrant-Rigths.org, said a stunning 99.6 percent of all domestic workers and personal assistants in the Kingdom were foreigners, with majority of them\u00a0 undocumented. \u00a0Like other countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Saudi Arabia\u2019s labour migration policy is based on an old traditional sponsorship scheme known as the \u2018Kafala\u2019 system, where a worker can only enter the country and work through a sponsor known as a \u2018Kafeel\u2019. These workers are mostly linked to the sponsors through agencies both in Saudi and lower income countries where the workers are recruited from.<\/p>\n
Per this scheme, the sponsor through their local agents fund the travel of\u00a0 young migrants who are mostly lured with unrealistic lucrative promises.\u00a0 The scheme ties a worker\u2019s status in the Saudi to a specific sponsor, whose written consent is required before the worker can change jobs or leave the country.\u00a0\u00a0 A foreign worker cannot change his or her sponsor or job unless a rare release from the sponsor is issued, along with a new sponsorship form from a new employer.\u00a0 The \u2018kafala\u2019 sponsorship scheme has been described by human right watchers as a form of modern-day slavery due to the immense power given to employers.<\/p>\n
In 2015, a young Ghanaian lady, Zara , 25, through a local recruitment\u00a0 agency\u00a0 in \u00a0Tema, left behind \u00a0her minor\u00a0 catering business with the hope of making it \u2018big\u2019 in Saudi Arabia. However, like many ladies referred to by the Ghanaian Embassy in Saudi Arabia, that decision was the worst she made.\u00a0 Luckily for her, she is now back in Ghana and ready to share her experiences in a bid to discourage other young ladies who may want to travel to the \u00a0\u00a0gulf countries for \u2018greener pastures\u2019 that never exist.<\/p>\n
\u201cI left Accra with other girls on the 6th of December, 2015. What made me to embark on the Saudi trip was that I ran into a debt with my waakye business. I had a debt I needed to repay. So as a frustrated young lady, I was hopeful I could raise the money there. The agent said we will\u00a0 be well paid if we work hard in Saudi, that motivated me but that was not the story,\u2019\u2019 she narrated gloomily, pointing to a page in her passport.<\/p>\n
According to her,\u00a0 they \u00a0left Accra on \u00a0for Saudi Arabia through Egypt where she met\u00a0 other\u00a0 Ghanaian ladies who were also on transit to Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were a lot of girls on the flight so we were chatting on board from Egypt till we got to Saudi Arabia. When we got to Saudi, our passports were taken at the Airport and kept in a room. That is where our woes commenced\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201c In Saudi, we joined other ladies\u00a0 from Ethiopia, India, Philippines, and Bangladesh. We were parked in a small room. \u00a0We did not know whom our bosses (sponsors) were, but\u00a0 we were told they knew us\u00a0 because they applied for our visas. After long hours, we \u00a0were distributed across the country like parcels,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n
Deceits, maltreatments & disappointments<\/strong><\/p>\n Before leaving Ghana, Zara said she was promised a cedi equivalent of\u00a0 GHC 2,000\u00a0 monthly salary but upon arrival,\u00a0 this turned-out to be false as she was only given GHC 800 a month \u00a0for working like a \u201cslave.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cParts of the salary was being paid to the Ghanaian agent whom I could not reach over there. My expectations were dashed completely due to the treatment meted out to me. \u00a0I was made to do the chores of about ten people in a big flat with several rooms. \u201d<\/p>\n She noted that though she was informed that she will be working in one particular house, there were times where she was taken to work in the homes of\u00a0 the parents of her sponsor.<\/p>\n \u201cCommunication was a challenge because I could not speak Arabic. My Sponsor\u2019s wife was very abusive. You are not allowed to eat, it was just work and nothing else.\u00a0 I can say the place was no different from hell. I had wanted to escape due to the kind of treatment I was going through, but the challenge was with my passport which was not with me. So I had no option than to endure the hardship,\u201d Zara narrated.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no domestic worker \u00a0in Saudi Arabia who is safe per my observation. What I personally went through there it was not easy at all. Things are really difficult out there in Saudi. I don\u2019t just want to see anybody experience the heartless treatment I was going through.”<\/p>\n After spending close to two years under inhumane treatment, Zara , now drained and skinny, was released by her employers \u00a0with the aid of some concocted stories. \u00a0Like many other young girls from lower and middle-income countries in\u00a0 Africa and Asia,\u00a0 Zara was \u00a0lied to, promised heaven only to have\u00a0 her\u00a0 expectations dashed.<\/p>\n Back in Ghana, she is sharing her experience with the aim of dissuading other young women who may be tempting to travel to the GCC.<\/p>\n