Sri Lanka government bans maids to Saudi Arabia

Sri Lanka has banned the practice of sending local maids to work in Saudi Arabia, following an international outcry over the beheading of a young Lankan housemaid in the Kingdom.

The Chairman of Association of Licensed Foreign Employment Agencies said that the government had decided to suspend sending domestic maids to Saudi Arabia until the maids are provided with an insurance cover by the Saudi authorities.

ALFEA Chairman W MP Aponso, quoted by The Sunday Leader, said that it will discuss the issue with Sri Lankan Minister of Foreign Employment and Social Services Dylan Pereira.

The move to suspend sending domestic maids to the Gulf nation followed the execution of Sri Lankan maid Rizana Nafeek.

Nearly 500,000 Sri Lankans are employed in Saudi Arabia, most of them as maids.

Chairman of the Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau Amal Senalankadhikara also confirmed to the newspaper that Sri Lankan domestic maids were not being sent to Saudi Arabia.

He said that a decision was taken to suspend sending maids over some pending issues which will be discussed with the minister concerned.

ALFEA also warned that Sri Lanka may lose its quota of maids to Saudi Arabia after Indonesia had last week lifted a ban on sending maids to Saudi Arabia.