Saturday, July 13, 2013

Saudi princess held in US over Kenyan maid

Friday, July 12, 2013 - 00:00 -- BY DOMINIC WABALA AND AGENCIES
 The detention and mistreatment of a Kenyan house help has landed a Saudi princess in a US court on charges of human trafficking which might see her sentenced to 12 years imprisonment.
The 30-year old Kenyan woman who's identity is yet to be revealed, was contracted by a local employment agency to go and work for the Saudi princess, 42-year old Meshalel Alayban in Saudi Arabia in March last year.
According to the contract, she was supposed to earn $1,600 (Sh136,000) per month for cooking, cleaning and looking after the princess' children.
When she arrived in Saudi Arabia, the woman's passport and employment contract was immediately confiscated by the princess.
The Kenyan woman was made to work for excessive hours and for less money than that specified in the contract.But when she complained about her working conditions and asked for her passport back, Alayban is accused of refusing to comply.
In May this year, Alayban and her family traveled to the U.S. with the Kenyan and four Filipinas who'd been contracted as workers in a similar fashion. The Kenyan said she was only allowed outside the home when carrying family's luggage to the car.
She was only paid US$ 200 (Sh25,500) per month and was forced tend to at least eight people in four apartments in the same complex, washing dishes, cooking, cleaning two apartments and doing the laundry and ironing, seven days a week without a day off.
On Wednesday, the Kenyan— carrying a suitcase and a pamphlet she picked up at the U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia—flagged down a bus saying she was a victim of human trafficking. The pamphlet she had specified her rights and warned against becoming a victim of human trafficking.
A bus passenger helped the woman contacted the local police who got a warrant to search Alayban's home in Oregon county, California. The four Filipan maids asked to leave the house but are not pressing charges.
Alayban, who is the wife of Saudi Arabian Prince Abdul Rahman bin Nasser bin Abdulaziz al Saud was released on a US$ 5 million (Sh425 million) bail. She was also fitted with a GPS tracking device and ordered ti surrender her passport to the court  to ensure she did not leave the country.
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official yesterday said they had not been informed of the incident but will contact the Kenyan embassy in the US for more details.
- See more at: http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/article-127823/saudi-princess-held-us-over-kenyan-maid#sthash.WQeqYqMb.dpuf

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