Center for the Rights of Ethiopian Women (CREW) — e-mail: ethiowomen@gmail.com

Reaching out to international women about the abuses of
Ethiopian Migrant workers in Saudi ArabiaCenter for the Rights of Ethiopian Women (CREW) is a non-government, non-profit, non-partisan, human rights and peace organization established to promote the social, economic and legal rights of Ethiopian women in Ethiopia and worldwide.

We appeal to all international women, who are concerned about the rights of people. to raise your voices against the injustices that are being committed to Ethiopian migrant workers by the Saudi police, employers and vigilantes. CREW is especially concerned about the reported torture, abuse and rape of Ethiopian women domestic workers.

As documented through various media outlets, Saudi authorities launched a crackdown on undocumented migrant workers following the expiry of amnesty linked to a new employment rules. As the results of this crackdown, migrant workers, particularly Ethiopians, have faced beating, abuse, torture, and in some instance, even death. The videos and photos from Saudi Arabia showed Ethiopians being thrown out in the streets with no shelter and food. There were also some reports of Ethiopian women being gang raped. Some of these women shared their experiences and fears in the various media outlets posted online.

We have received reliable eyewitness reports that there are many Ethiopian migrant workers awaiting repatriation in detention centers in different places in Saudi Arabia. Most of them have not brought with them their clothes or money to buy necessities. They were just thrown in the streets even before the deadline for deportation. Thousands of them were just dropped off by their employers, without paying them their salaries, at different places where buses take them to waiting centers. Women and children are particularly suffering under harsh conditions at the detention centers and at the border between Yemen and Saudi Arabia where thousands were dropped off.

The abuses of Ethiopian domestic workers in the Middle Eastern countries have been documented and reported for years. It is a modern-day slavery. They work under harsh conditions with no pay and being physically and psychologically abused. Some have committed suicide due to treatment they received from their employers. Thousands of women went to Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries because of poverty. They went in search of job opportunities to help their families in Ethiopia. Please watch this video from Bloomberg News. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvuErWmFw3I

Since 2012, our organization has been in the forefront in advocating for the rights of Ethiopian domestic workers in the Middle Eastern countries. We have documented the abuses and mistreatments of Ethiopian domestic workers in many Middle Eastern countries. The current situations in Saudi Arabia are the evilest of it all. Please tell your friends and colleagues about the abuse of Ethiopians in Saudi Arabia. Please bring this issue for discussions at your churches, mosques, synagogues and — wherever you meet, and speak out by writing to your representatives, governments or by issuing press releases on the topic. It is only when people speak out about injustices that the authorities will listen. As Reverend Martin Luther King, the renowned civil rights leader, said fifty years ago,
“ Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

We thank you in advance for your cooperation.