Maid’s misery
By BEGENA GEORGE
Published: 29 January 2007
SOCIAL workers are finding it almost impossible to find accommodation for a Sri Lankan mother and her daughter, who fled their sponsor’s house last Tuesday.
The GDN reported earlier this month that housemaid Kalamalar Raasaiya was stranded in Bahrain because her daughter Vasanthi, who was born out of wedlock, has no legal papers.
However, they fled her sponsor’s house by taxi at around 5.30pm last Tuesday – with Ms Raasaiya claiming that she had been victimised for speaking to the Press.
They contacted the Migrant Workers Protection Society (MWPS) on the same night seeking shelter, but were told they would not be able to stay in its shelter for abused workers because it was not equipped for children.
Maid’s misery
By BEGENA GEORGE
Published: 29 January 2007
SOCIAL workers are finding it almost impossible to find accommodation for a Sri Lankan mother and her daughter, who fled their sponsor’s house last Tuesday.
The GDN reported earlier this month that housemaid Kalamalar Raasaiya was stranded in Bahrain because her daughter Vasanthi, who was born out of wedlock, has no legal papers.
However, they fled her sponsor’s house by taxi at around 5.30pm last Tuesday – with Ms Raasaiya claiming that she had been victimised for speaking to the Press.
They contacted the Migrant Workers Protection Society (MWPS) on the same night seeking shelter, but were told they would not be able to stay in its shelter for abused workers because it was not equipped for children.
An MWPS member then agreed to take in both the mother and child for the night, but they are still there almost a week later.
“The society’s own rules prevent us from providing shelter for children,” said a member, who asked to remain anonymous.
“But on humanitarian grounds, members acting outside the banner of the society are trying to make some arrangements for the mother and child.
“They are currently staying with a family where they are safe, but this arrangement is not permanent.
“The kind-hearted family had agreed to shelter them for a night, but now it has been nearly a week and no other arrangement has been made – although our members are desperately trying.
“The peculiarity with this case is that the woman has a child and nobody is willing to take on the responsibility of a youngster.
“But the girl is not a troublemaker at all and is a quiet child.”
Following an appeal in the GDN, the Al Mahd Day Boarding School, Saar, has offered free education for the child until she gets her legal papers and is allowed to go home.
“Now our immediate need is for some family or group to offer accommodation for both mother and child,” added the society member.
Sri Lankan officials have promised to help Ms Raasaiya obtain legal documents for her daughter both from the Health Ministry in Bahrain, where she was born, and the Sri Lankan Embassy in Kuwait.
Meanwhile, the Shifa Al Jazeera Medical Centre has volunteered to provide free primary medical care for Vasanthi, including vital vaccinations that she has missed because of a lack of official papers.
Ms Raasaiya has worked at a house in Muharraq for the past 10 years, but has been unable to get official papers for her daughter because of a lack of documents that prove who the child’s father is.
She says the father is an Indian painter who she had an affair with nearly seven years ago, but who was then arrested when the doctor who delivered the baby found out the couple weren’t married.
He was deported on grounds that he was not working for his sponsor and it turned out he was already married and had a wife and children back home.
The General Directorate of Nationality, Passports and Residence (GDNPR) has said Ms Raasaiya could leave Bahrain, but could not take Vasanthi with her because she does not have a passport.
© Gulf Daily News