Bangladeshi women working as housemaids in Jordan are being denied regular wages and sufficient food and are being treated like slaves, a human rights group has alleged.
“We are receiving calls every day from housemaids in Jordan, who complain that they are not being given wages regularly,” Bangladesh Ovibashi Mohila Sramik Association (BOMSA) Founding Director Sumaiya Islam told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
Quoting a housemaid who had called her over phone on Friday from Jordan, Sumaiya said: “When she asked for her salary, she was beaten up by her employer.”
Some employers in Jordan claim that they have “bought” the housemaids for money from recruiting agencies, Sumaiya added.
A six-member delegation led by expatriates’ welfare ministry’s Joint Secretary M Khalid Mahmud visited Jordan from November 9-19 to see the condition of workers including housemaids and garment workers.
“We have seen that housemaids are facing various problems including scarcity of water for bathing and food shortages,” a member of the delegation told the Dhaka Tribune on condition of anonymity.
The official said female workers in garment factories were doing well. “They stay together and have no problems of food,” the official added.
Another member of the team said housemaids and recruiting agencies had complained about each other.
Recruiting agents told the delegation the housemaids did not know how to use electrical appliances while the housemaids complained of many problems including food, the official added.
A senior official of the team said there were no shelter homes for Bangladeshi workers.
“We have held meetings with IOM and ILO in Jordan so that a shelter home for our workers can be set up there,” the official said.
The official said, “We have to strengthen the labour attaché in Jordan and introduce training programmes for the female workers.”
“I have no idea about the major problems of our workers but we receive some complaints,” Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) Director General Begum Shamsun Nahar told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
According to the BMET website, around 42,000 Bangladeshi female workers, including housemaids and garments workers, have gone to Jordan. Of them, around 18,000 workers have gone this year.
A female worker gets only US $150-200 as monthly wage in Jordan.