| |
|
 |
Kuwait stops issuing visas
to Ethiopians |
 |
| |
ADDIS
ABABA(August 13,2008) -
Starting Aug 11, the Kuwaiti authorities stopped issuing
all types of visas to Ethiopian nationals after three Ethiopian maids
recently tested HIV positive, Arab Times reported from Kuwait City
citing an official there.
Hashem Majed, the Managing Director of Al-Huqooq International Company
told the online media that the maids were newly recruited and expressed
surprise as to how the three maids had cleared the medical tests in
their home country.
"The Kuwait government should not mete out collective punishment
to all Ethiopians, instead the Kuwait embassy in Ethiopia should get
to the bottom of the matter, even as he called on the embassy to check
the antecedents of the medical centers in Ethiopia, which cleared
the three maids", he was quoted in the report as saying.
The three infected workers have been deported from the country, the
report added as the official pointed out.
"The Kuwaiti embassy should conduct a thorough investigation
to ascertain whether any ill-practices were involved in the matter.
I believe the ban is temporary in nature"
According to the report, Al-Huqooq International Company has been
offering legal assistance to distressed workers and has helped in
repatriating thousands of stranded workers of various nationalities.
Until a few days ago, about 1,000 Ethiopian maids were being recruited
on a monthly basis and the ban is likely to create a serious vacuum
in the domestic sector, especially after Sri Lanka decided to cut
the number of maids to the Middle East over alleged mistreatment,
it added.
According to Majed, there are some 14,000 Ethiopians in Kuwait, many
of whom work in the domestic sector.
|
| |
|
