Second minor runs to shelter
17-year-old Filipina maid illtreated for four and half months since she began work
Ayla Marisse G Ginete
Contributor
A second underaged Filipina maid sought refuge at the Overseas Workers Welfare Association (OWWA) shelter two days ago.
Safiya arrived at the shelter, heavily bruised all over her body, black and blue in several places, showing the signs of extreme abuse.
The girl arrived at the shelter scared, penniless, and without any belonging.
Less than a month ago, 15-year-old Rosanna Baro had arrived at the shelter for assistance.
Incidentally, 17-year-old Safiya is also a victim of illegal recruitment from the Philippines, and allegedly belonged to the same batch of maids recruited by a Filipino woman by the name of Zuraida Salem.
Second minor runs to shelter
17-year-old Filipina maid illtreated for four and half months since she began work
Ayla Marisse G Ginete
Contributor
A second underaged Filipina maid sought refuge at the Overseas Workers Welfare Association (OWWA) shelter two days ago.
Safiya arrived at the shelter, heavily bruised all over her body, black and blue in several places, showing the signs of extreme abuse.
The girl arrived at the shelter scared, penniless, and without any belonging.
Less than a month ago, 15-year-old Rosanna Baro had arrived at the shelter for assistance.
Incidentally, 17-year-old Safiya is also a victim of illegal recruitment from the Philippines, and allegedly belonged to the same batch of maids recruited by a Filipino woman by the name of Zuraida Salem.
It was found that all the papers the girl possessed had been falsified, including the passport she used to arrive in Bahrain.
The passport had been tampered with, along with her ID picture and name, as typically done by “baklas gangs” to make her appear twice her age – 34 years. Safiya is also a native of Cotabato, Mindanao in the Philippines and claims that she is Rosanna’s cousin.
“Unlike Rosanna, I knew exactly what I let myself in for; we were told by a local recruiter in Cotabato that Zuraida will take care of everything. I had no idea how much I would be earning but my parents urged me to take up the job because we badly needed the money. I travelled to Manila with Rosanna and a couple more girls to Manila; there, Zuraida took us to her home in Bicutan,” Safiya told the Tribune.
She said there were at least six more girls who travelled to Bahrain, including Rosanna and herself. All are young and under 20 and all possessed falsified passports and travel documents, Safiya claimed.
“We had to undergo a month’s ‘training’ and then were told of the money we would earn. I was told that I would be earning about BD50 but won’t be paid for the first three months to pay Zuraida towards some expenses,” Safiya said.
Safiya said she would have borne the housework load but she just had to leave due to the severe beating she received from her sponsor’s wife.
A reluctant Safiya showed her bruises that have turned black and blue, clearly visible all over her body.
“During the four and a half months I worked for my madam, I received nothing but beatings from her. She used a long bamboo-like stick to hit me any time she pleased. In the beginning I thought she had hit me because I had not cleaned the house properly but then it became a daily ordeal,” she said.
“There were times she would hit me for little or no reason; just like the night before I left I was pushed to the ground because I had not replied to her call promptly. I could not bear it any longer,” she said. Safiya said she wanted to go home but was afraid of what her parents might say or do when she arrived home.
Last week Rosanna was repatriated after spending three weeks at the OWWA shelter waiting for her documents.
Article from: Bahrain Tribune Newspaper- www.BahrainTribune.com