A retired Saudi general and his family members have been accused of physically abusing Filipino domestic helpers.
Five Filipina domestic helpers who worked in the Gulf kingdom have sought the help of the Philippine government to act against their employer.
They asserted that this was done in violation of the PH-KSA agreement on the hiring of household help.
The women have also urged Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III to investigate the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Riyadh for mishandling of the case.
The victims were presented Thursday by the Blas F. Ople Policy Center (Ople Center), a non-profit organization that advocates the rights and welfare of migrant workers, in a virtual press briefing and all five workers arrived in Manila from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on September 2, 2021.
In their testimonies, the women said that they experienced physical and verbal abuse from employers, General Ayed Al Jeaid and wife, Fetnah Metrek Al Qahtani as well as the head Filipino housekeeper.
They also accused their employer’s 25-year-old daughter of beating them up especially when she was high on drugs.
They said their mobile phones and passports were confiscated on their first day of work to prevent them from contacting their families.
One of them recounted being slapped multiple times every day. She also claimed that their employer’s wife would grab and pull their hair leaving them with bald spots.
Another OFW said she experienced being beaten up by the employers and was made to eat outside the bathroom with food brought by the other OFWs.
The OFWs claimed they were dissuaded by the POLO staff from filing complaints as the retired general had enormous clout within the Kingdom.
The POLO-Riyadh has yet to respond to the accusations.
