New Rules For Hiring Maids: Take It Or Leave It

"If the Philippines can pioneer  unshackling this evil bondage through its very own, the world will be on its feet, then other third-world countries will likely follow suit."

It is as easy as one plus one - if you cannot protect your guest workers then do not invite them to come over. The same is said of the Saudi government's seemingly desperate attempt to get Philippine counterpart to have a change of heart towards the latter's stance on the hiring of Filipino domestic helpers. This early, the Philippine government has stiffened its conditions set on hiring of domestic helpers - which the Saudi government finds absurd - because the prerequisites set by the labor-exporting country do not conform to the whims of the indolent and masochistic culture existent in the Saudi society.

In order for a Saudi family to acquire rights to hire a Filipina domestic helper, the Philippine government sets forth the following criteria:  The basic salary of the worker should be pegged at SR.1,500 - lower than that is deemed illegal and unacceptable. The head of the family should have at least a monthly basic salary of SR.9,000. - to ensure he is capable of paying his 'servant' (the term they label their household helper). And the prospective employer should attach a detailed map of his residence, for easy access of their whereabouts should an abuse is committed against their worker. If you see, the rules constitute protection of the worker but what the Saudi government fears about is that - its citizens are not yet ready to be bound by such rules.

Obviously if the Philippine government holds firm to its stake, the rampant abuses of Filipino domestic helpers in Saudi Arabia will be a thing of the past. And that is what their Saudi counterpart is keen to neutralize - in their favor. If this is the best way to teach Saudis a lesson - moral and diplomatic that is - then the Philippine government should remain firm to its advocacy.

If human rights wathcdogs will have their say,  Saudi Arabia will always be classified as a dangerous country for unskilled workers where there is no assurance of protection given to them . Most of them are household workers who exist at the mercies of their employers. Countless of documented and undocumented cases of abuses happen everyday in all corners of this country. They're lucky if they get to find way to escape from their abusive employers. Some of them have also found their ends here. Scores or sometimes hundreds of these distressed workers crowd temporary shelters inside Consulate in Jeddah and embassy in Riyadh awaiting months or years before being repatriated. And the bad news is - government's fund is slowly drying up for the cost of their subsistence and repatriation.

Acting the role of 'good and desirable' hosts, the Saudi government is not slow to sweet-lemonize the standoff between two governments saying there are domestic helpers from other countries waiting in large numbers offering their services to their nationals. There you go! If so, why bother to get Philippine officials to a dialogue hoping the rules set by them could be bent in mutual favor? The truth is, simple and fair the rules may sound, yet they are not willing to comply with it because they cannot guarantee the safety and protection of the worker inside a Saudi household.

How servants are being treated by them? In most instances, a servant is being enslaved by the whole clan. Her 24-hour day to day existence is offered to her masters. She is on-call even at the most unlikely of hours. She does not take offdays. After she finishes her work in her master's house, she is also being offfered  to serve in another house with the consent of her master. If she is thought to be pretty, she will be locked up in the bathroom by the wife before the husband comes. She could even end up a sex-slave by her male masters. If her masters are also monsters she could get a battering everyday. Even kids join the orgy by showering her with their spittle. ( I don't stereotype all Saudis, but my over a decade of stay in Saudi Arabia could attest to real stories of this kind, they're aplenty you would regret arguing with me.)

If the Philippine government plays its card smartly, I don't think this development is a bane to overseas employment for our household workers. Given that Filipinos are still the most preferred household workers for obvious reasons, good Saudis with penchant for quality skills possessed by Filipinos will be unperturbed by the rules. But those majority that raises the alarm are those inclined to be abusive, financially constraint and wanting  only to 'possess' a slave to flaunt to their ilks. If they cannot afford to give decent pay to their 'slaves' then it's about time that they move their asses off and wake up from their couch and start to declog their arteries because 'owning' a slave comes with responsibilities...and risks.

The astronomical cases of abuses to domestic helpers in general across the Arabian peninsula has been at the forefront of human rights groups' agenda all over the world. Various media and independent entities have documented the atrocities done to these poor individuals and how abusive employers get the luxuries of not being prosecuted for their crimes. From Lebanon and Jordan to Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, records of abuses and deaths are dizzying that calls to end this modern-day slavery are mounting. If the Philippines can pioneer  unshackling this evil bondage through its very own, the world will be on its feet, then other third-world countries will likely follow suit. And if this trade persists to exist, it is because better reforms have been put in place. Now I put my stake on the strength of the Philippines' stand. If they stay firm (which I still beg to doubt), then it's about time to bid abusers goodbye, or one more time, "take it or leave it"!

Housemaids in the Middle East - Their Grim Plight

"Some are fortunate and have become successful. Some are not that fortunate. And some have also met their ends here."

One blazing afternoon, as we arrived from work, a dabab (small pick-up truck) was parked in front of our apartment building. A black African man could be seen struggling to offload a decrepit airconditioner. There was no way he could do it by himself. He had three or four women in abayahs surrounding him, looking anxiously but obviously shy. I can guess what they were up to. "We have brand new neighbours again. This is not a beautiful sight to behold". I said to myself, and a little annoyed. This will certainly exacerbate our compounding problem of daily water shortages. "Our landlord is really one hell of greedy flesh and fats!"

As we got down, the African guy asked for help for which I willingly obliged. "Don't you have any men with you to help?" I asked the guy. One of the women did interject. "We are all women, six of us." She said in Filipino. "I am the only Filipina and the rest are Indonesians", she narrated. All of them work as housemaids for different employers, and that they're not allowed to stay in. So they had to rent an apartment.

For them to afford the rent of an apartment, these housemaids pool themselves so as to make it more economical. Usually, their number exceeds the capacity of an average 2-bedroom apartments. However, the downside with this kind of tenants is that, their status draws suspicion of them engaging in illegal activities.

Days and months have passed, our new neighbours next door virtually become non-existent. Very rarely I could chance upon any one of them- except when it's night time, their supposed duty hours. However it didn't take long, when on a number of occasions, I've noticed some suspicious- looking Arab guys outside of the lobby's main door waiting anxiously. As I opened the door, he seemed to look uneasy and agitated, but coyly headed straight to a familiar door. He must have waited for someone else to open the door for him.

Housemaids are conspicuous features in every Saudi household. They are considerably larger in number compared to workers you essentially see outside. Their profession falls under the unskilled category, hence lowly paid. Despite their low wages, their job basically entails round-the-clock errands for their masters. Not to mention, the harshest of conditions most of them are being subjected to.

Their sad plight has become daily staples in any local newspaper. In most cases, the abuses they suffered at the hands of their employers are horrifying. Jealous Saudi wives would resort to locking the maids up when it's time for their husbands to come home. And countless have been reported being raped by their employers and sometimes offered to their friends. The most horrifying of all, some of them die from extreme physical abuses and just being dumped alongside garbages, still their identities unknown.

Until now I am still bothered by one incident that made me chill to the bone. On May 13, 2009, when I boarded a taxi on my way to Jama, this Pakistani taxi driver named Abdulatif confided to me, that he had witnessed a kidnapping of a Filipina woman a day before. The alleged kidnapper was a Saudi in his mid 30s, whose car was a GMC black Chevrolet with plate no. 3769 HKA. According to him, he saw this Saudi man dragging one of these two Filipina women into his car, as one of them was hysterically screaming for help. He could even hear the cries of the kidnapped woman as the car zoomed.

One of the women then hailed this taxi and asked for help. She narrated how her companion was kidnapped while they were waiting for taxi. He then volunteered to take her to the Philippine Consulate but she adamantly refused. She further stressed that they do not have proper documents [which means they are illegal workers] and that they would surely be apprehended and brought for deportation. This woman also refused to report this case to the police for fear of the same. She however prayed that her friend was unharmed. But she felt so distressed that she wanted this taxi driver to help them but not in a way he suggested to her. She nonetheless left her cellphone number to him.

Once I got to the shop, I immediately called our Consulate and reported to them all necessary details about the kidnapping of a compatriot. I also gave them the cell number of Shiela for information. But once they (Consulate people) introduced themselves to her, she replied it's a wrong number. So, what makes the situation all the more complicated is that, the refusal to cooperate by the victims made these cases difficult to resolve. This has become a Catch-22 situation with no resolution in sight. Because if ever they wanted to report the matter to the police, they will surely be apprehended and deported. While if they just keep silent, they can still keep their jobs without fear of being jailed and their loved ones going hungry. But the thought of a missing friend who could have been raped and murdered, remains a constant nightmare haunting them.

I already did what I was supposed to do, and I was ready to put this experience behind me. But after 9days to be exact, as I was watching Balitang Middle East on TFC, there was a report on a dead body of a woman found in Makkah in an advanced state of decomposition, allegedly that of a Filipina. Her identity was still unknown, for her remains carried no identification, except that she resembled that of a Filipina. God forbid! "Could she be the one?" Whoever did this to that unfortunate soul, may he rot in hell!

This is just one true story from a multitude of lives living as expatriates in Saudi Arabia. Some are fortunate and have become successful. Some are not that fortunate. And some have also met their ends here. Not everyone who has dreamed of a greener pasture has found it. Sometimes, we even prefer not to tell our stories to our loved ones back home. Some stories that would make them worry about us. However sad it would be, we always tend to keep it to ourselves, because we don't want to lose focus from our goals.

To our less fortunate compatriots who work as housemaids, I fully understand why they have become what they are. They just want to live simple lives. Not wanting to enrich themselves, but to feed and send their kids to school is just their modest dream. Those who have absconded from their employers have their own stories to tell. And they had no choice but to fend for themselves through illegal means, and help their families get by.

As for my new neighbours next door, I could say they remain shy and aloof, very seldom to be seen-except when ushering some male guests that coincided with my routine. Surprisingly, after quite a time, a newborn baby has been added to their family, as the shrieks and cries of the innocent can be audibly heard. Does the landlord knows about this? Yes of course! As long as they pay the rent on time, it would be a non-issue. God bless the baby!