Adverts for sponsorship transfer of domestic workers in Saudi Arabia a crime, rules HRC

JEDDAH: The Saudi Human Rights Commission (SHRC) said measures have been taken to prosecute individuals and entities that post and promote adverts that indicate the trafficking of domestic workers.

The illegal adverts offer domestic workers’ services and sponsorship transfers. SHRC spokesman Mohammad Al-Ma’di told Arab News that “a number of governmental security, supervisory and social bodies will combine their efforts in order to conduct a transparent investigation.”

Al-Ma’di added that the investigation will include meetings with workers who have been the subject of the adverts, and refer offenders to the judicial authorities.

Local and online media, as well as social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp, have become forums for individuals and recruitment agencies that deal with foreign domestic workers in Saudi Arabia.

Regardless of repeated warnings by the Media Ministry, local newspapers have continued to publish adverts by individuals wanting to transfer their domestic worker’s sponsorship. Most of those workers are housemaids.

Al-Ma’di said that such crimes are considered one of the most severe because they undermine human dignity and expose workers to exploitation and slavery.

According to the SHRC, there are several indicators of human trafficking, such as exposure to violence, inability to leave the work environment, limited or non-existent contact with their families, little or no payment, and excessively long hours over long periods.

Other indicators include workers not being in possession of their passports or other official documents, paying for their transport to the destination country, and working for other parties without additional payment.

“The Kingdom’s measures to combat this heinous crime included the issuance of a special law to combat trafficking in persons, and it defines its concept, forms and penalties,” Al-Ma’di said.

According to Saudi law, “anyone who commits such crimes shall be punished by imprisonment for a term not exceeding 15 years, or by a fine not exceeding SR1 million ($266,651), or both,” he added.

The SHRC affirmed that Saudi Arabia cooperates extensively and transparently with international and regional organizations to combat this crime and bring offenders to justice.