First group of Sri Lankans held at Riyadh camp to return tomorrow

(MENAFN - Colombo Gazette) he first group of Sri Lankans held at the 'Tarheel' deportation camp in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, will be returning to Sri Lanka tomorrow (Friday). This will be followed by a second and third group also returning to Sri Lanka on 03 May and 05 May 2021. The repatriation process of deportation camp inmates is a result of an ongoing collaboration between the Saudi authorities and the Sri Lankan Embassy in Riyadh. Since July 2020, the Embassy has facilitated 154 Sri Lankans from the deportation camps to return to Sri Lanka. Amnesty International had�revealed this recently that at least 41 Sri Lankan women, the majority of whom are migrant domestic workers, have spent months on end arbitrarily detained at a deportation center in Saudi Arabia, awaiting repatriation to their home country. Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa later�assured a solution to the Sri Lankan women wrongfully detained in Saudi Arabia. The women have been held at a Deportation Detention (Tarheel) Centre in Riyadh for periods ranging from eight to 18 months. At least three of them have young children detained with them, and one woman is in urgent need of medical care and treatment which she is not receiving. Their plight is a stark illustration of how domestic workers remain caught up in the inherently abusive kafala (sponsorship) system. In March 2021 Saudi Arabia brought in significant reforms to its kafala system, however these reforms excluded migrant domestic workers who make up 30% of the country's 10 million migrant workers. 'Detaining migrant workers for prolonged periods of up to 18 months when they have done nothing wrong and are victims themselves is cruel and inhumane. These women left their homes and families behind to earn a livelihood in Saudi Arabia only to find themselves locked into an abusive sponsorship system that facilitates exploitation and abuse. Now they are indefinitely detained with no opportunity to challenge their detention and no indication of when they can be reunited with their loved ones,' said Lynn Maalouf, Deputy Middle East and North Africa Director at Amnesty International. 'Their ordeal clearly illustrates the urgent need for Saudi Arabia to extend labour law protections and reforms to its kafala system to migrant domestic workers. The Saudi Arabian authorities should immediately release all women detained solely for their migration status and work with the Sri Lankan authorities to facilitate their return home.' None of the women have been informed of any charges brought against them; nor have they been granted access to a lawyer or received any consular assistance. Many were detained after they were unable to obtain an exit permit from their employer to leave the country or a work permit to regularize their stay in the country. Under Saudi Arabia's kafala system which ties migrant workers to their employer, this is grounds for indefinite detention. Amnesty International interviewed 11 individuals with close knowledge of the detentions, including migrant domestic workers, an activist and an official from the Sri Lankan Embassy in Riyadh. In at least five cases, women were detained because they fled from an abusive employer and had not obtained an exit permit from their employer to leave the country. (Colombo Gazette) MENAFN29042021000190011042ID1102003725