| De: |
"joya banerjee" [ Profil ] |
| Sujet: |
Fwd: Die AND starve at the same time, what do we care?
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| Envoyé: |
Aug 12th, 2008 - 12:08:18 |
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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Mohammed Al-Ghanim
Date: Tue, Aug 12, 2008 at 11:28 AM
Subject: Die AND starve at the same time, what do we care?
To: mhalghanim (at) gmail.com
* Kuwait stops issuing visas to Ethiopians after three test HIV+ *
KUWAIT CITY : Starting Aug 11, the Kuwaiti authorities stopped issuing all
types of visas to Ethiopian nationals after three Ethiopian maids recently
tested HIV positive, says Hashem Majed, the Managing Director of Al-Huqooq
International Company. Majed told the Arab Times that the maids were newly
recruited and expressed surprise as to how the three maids had cleared the
medical tests in their home country. He went on to add that the Kuwait
government should not mete out 'collective punishment' to all Ethiopians,
instead the Kuwait embassy in Ethiopia should get to the bottom of the
matter, even as he called on the embassy to check the antecedents of the
medical centers in Ethiopia, which cleared the three maids.
Majed noted that the three infected workers have been deported from the
country. Sources said that the two of the three maids were housed at the
Khaitan Shelter before they were deported. 'The Kuwaiti embassy should
conduct a thorough investigation to ascertain whether any ill-practices were
involved in the matter. I believe the ban is temporary in nature,' he added.
Al-Huqooq International Company has been offering legal assistance to
distressed workers and has helped in repatriating thousands of stranded
workers of various nationalities. Until a few days ago, about 1,000
Ethiopian maids were being recruited on a monthly basis and the ban is
likely to create a serious vacuum in the domestic sector, especially after
Sri Lanka decided to cut the number of maids to the Middle East over alleged
mistreatment, he added.
'In the run-up to Ramadan, the demand for domestic helpers sees a rise. The
government should now make alternate arrangements to overcome the shortage
of workers,' he added. According to Majed, there are some 14,000 Ethiopians
in Kuwait, many of whom work in the domestic sector. He added that the
recruitment fee for an Ethiopian maid is around KD 380 and the fee is lower
compared to Filipino and Indonesia maids whose recruitment fees come to over
KD 500 each. He added that the demand for Nepali maids is expected to
increase as the recruitment fee (KD 320) is the lowest.
*By Francis A. Clifford Cardozo
Arab Times Staff*
--
Joya Banerjee | Co-Founder | Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS |
www.youthaidscoalition.org
joya (at) youthaidscoalition.org | 307 West 38th Street, Suite 1805 | New York,
NY 10018 | 212.661.6111 (phone) | 1-212-661-1933 (fax) |
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