(The Sheba Post). Ethiopian is said to finalize a procedure that will allow the travel of 45,000 Ethiopian maids to Saudi Arabia every month, reports The Saudi Gazette. Ethiopian housemaids have been high in demand after Saudi Arabia stopped recruiting housemaids from four countries, including Kenya, because Saudi Arabia has been unable to reach a satisfactory agreement with these countries. However, the treatment and conditions of Ethiopian workers in Middle Eastern countries have been thorny issue these days. Ethiopian immigrants to these countries often receive abusive and inhumane treatment from their host. Just this week the world had witnessed the unimaginable brutality so many immigrants found themselves in when several Lebanon men brutally abuse and drag an Ethiopian girl in daylight Beirut. That barbaric incident had led the abused Alem Dechassa to take her own life few hours ago. On top of that, the lack of proper mechanisms on the part of Ethiopian government to protect its own citizens prior to such kind of incidents or  identify victims and take proper legal measure once abuse occur, as well as repatriate its citizens have exacerbate the conditions.

There is no detail information about the current arrangement between Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia governments about the protection and awareness Ethiopian immigrants. However, it was reported that the Ethiopian Ministry of Labor and members of Saudi Consul for Economic Affairs have met several times to facilitate the travel of housemaids to Saudi Arabia. Maid have to be trained in Ethiopia prior to their travel to Saudi Arabia. According to Noor Adeen Masfa, Saudi Arabia’s Vice Consul for Economic Affairs, Saudi Arabia has decided to finish procedures of 1,500 housemaids due to the increasing demand for Ethiopian housemaids by Saudi families. Ethiopian housemaids are trained well on Saudi customs and traditions, besides the percentage of runaways are low.

Unavailability of sufficient flights from Addis Ababa has also caused the delay in the travel of a large number of housemaids. Some Saudi families have complained that their Ethiopian housemaids left their households after coming to Saudi Arabia to work illegally because they get lucrative offers from private companies and brokers. And according to Saudi Arabia’s Vice Consul for Economic Affairs this matter was studied and discussed and deterring penalties will be put on housemaids who do that. “Some Saudi families employ housemaids illegally and pay them Saudi riyal 2,000 a month. That’s why many housemaids run away,” he added. According to Saudi Arabia’s Vice Consul for Economic Affairs, Ethiopia’s Ministry of Labor is considering to put conditions in the contracts to allow housemaids use a cell phone and talk to their families and the consulate in the Saudi Arabia.

It is also unknown for how many months the project will run, for how long they will be staying in Saudi Arabia, if the maids will be rotated or if there is any repatriation mechanisms put in place for the maids. If the project goes ahead as planned, Saudi Arabia will have influx of more than half million Ethiopian maids just within a year.