My BFF
“There are many reports of housemaids being abused or beaten, and occasionally even murdered. However, there is another side to the story. The large number of housemaids running away from their employers is causing untold problems, including social embarrassments and additional financial burdens for many Saudi families. “It costs a lot to recruit a housemaid, with fees that go up to SR15,000. This includes recruitment fees, plane ticket and visa,” said Abu Faisal, a recruitment office manager in Jeddah. “If the maid runs away, the employer loses all the money he spent hiring her.” Maids run away for several reasons, but they are mostly greedy and search for jobs in other households to make more money, according to Abu Faisal. “Many maids run away from their sponsors as soon as they land in the Kingdom, knowing that they will find a job no matter what, for people are always looking for maids,” he said……..”

Maybe the housemaids will start protesting in Riyadh; there probably are as many of them as Saudis. That will be the Saudi revolution, since the natives are either too afraid or too brainwashed by the shaikhs or too worried about clan or tribe feelings. After all, how can you protest against the ruling family if some neighbor of your best friend’s brother in law has a distant niece who is married to one of the al-Saud drivers? Makes it tough, don’t it? The best hope for a revolution is with the Asian and African housemaids, and God knows they probably have good reasons to protest. The other alternative is for people to lose so many of their housemaids that they rise in revolution out of despair. Despair is what drove Tunisians and Egyptians and Libyans and Bahrainis and Syrians to revolution. In India the rising price of onions can lead to political protests and change elections, maybe in Saudi Arabia the rising ‘price’ of housemaids will do the job.
Cheers
mhg



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