My Note: rumors are circulating in Saudi Arabia now that over 500 Ethiopian immigrants have been murdered by Saudi thugs in the past couple of days. Lord have Mercy!
Ethiopian Maids Exploited During UAE Ban
A ban on Ethiopian domestic staff is being exploited by recruiters who are headhunting those already in the UAE and offering their services at four times the normal recruitment charges.
Addis Ababa banned its domestic workers from seeking work in the UAE in July last year until an agreement was reached to protect them from abusive recruiters and employers.
But the ban does not apply to those already employed, and has enabled some ruthless recruiters to further exploit them.
Typically, the recruiters will offer existing sponsors of Ethiopian domestic workers up to Dh3,000 for agreeing to transfer the visa of their maid.
They then offer the maids’ services to other employers for fees of up to Dh7,500, rather than the previous standard of Dh1,500.
But none of the extra money is passed on to the maids, some of whom earn as little as Dh700 a month.
While such actions are not illegal, critics say recruiters are exploiting the demand for Ethiopian maids, who have a reputation for being diligent and reliable.
Nora Salim was offered the opportunity to hire an Ethiopian maid by a recruiter seeking Dh8,000 in office fees.
“The same maid would have cost Dh1,500 in office fees but now they cost at least Dh6,000 extra because recruitment offices are taking advantage of the ban,” Ms Salim said.
“I told the office employee that this was a rip-off. I had an Ethiopian maid before and I know the process and the costs.
“They claimed to me that the original sponsor was demanding that amount in return for giving away his maid.”
Aida Omar contacted a recruitment company to arrange the plane ticket for her maid, whose two-year contract had expired, and the company offered her Dh3,000 to transfer the visa.
“The office employee started insisting that I bring my maid to her office, and said she would finalise her residency cancellation and provide me with the necessary papers to claim my deposit from the residency department,” Ms Omar said.
For two weeks, she received calls from the recruiter pestering her to bring the maid in.
“When I stopped taking her calls, she said it to me bluntly: ‘I will pay you Dh3,000 if you give me the maid’,” Ms Omar said.
“It’s hard to believe this is legal, but even if it is, charging others four times more than what was originally paid for the maid is like theft.”
The average monthly wage of an Ethiopian maid without experience is Dh700 (US $ 190) while those with experience earn up to Dh900.
Ethiopia wants Dh1,200 minimum wage for its citizens in the UAE
Saudi Nuclear Weapons ‘on order’ From Pakistan
S
audi Arabia has invested in Pakistani nuclear weapons projects, and believes it could obtain atomic bombs at will, a variety of sources have told BBC Newsnight.
While the kingdom’s quest has often been set in the context of countering Iran’s atomic programme, it is now possible that the Saudis might be able to deploy such devices more quickly than the Islamic republic.
Earlier this year, a senior Nato decision maker told me that he had seen intelligence reporting that nuclear weapons made in Pakistan on behalf of Saudi Arabia are now sitting ready for delivery.
Egypt, Saudi Arabia Start Joint Naval Drill
Egyptian and Saudi naval forces started Saturday a joint exercise codenamed “Morjan 14” with the participation of a number of Arab and African countries as observers.
Egypt’s state news agency (MENA) reported that the drill, which will last for several days, is held around the Red Sea Naval base.
The exercise activities include joint managing and executing day and night operations, detecting submarines and sea mines, fueling vessels during operation, intercepting enemy boats in cooperation with air forces.
The training aims to raise combat readiness and exchange experience in planning, implementing and controlling of different units in operation theater
Source: Arab News
Angola ‘Bans Islam’, Dismantles Mosques
A number of news outlets have reported that Angola has “banned” Islam and started to dismantle mosques in a bold effort to stem the spread of Muslim extremism.
Weekly French-language Moroccan newspaper La Nouvelle Tribune published an article on Friday sourcing “several” Angolan officials, including the Southwest African nation’s minister of culture, Rosa Cruz, who reportedly offered the following remarks, which have been translated from French: “The process of legalization of Islam has not been approved by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, their mosques would be closed until further notice.”
The media reports have not described why exactly Islam apparently faces a need to be legalized despite its presence in the country for many years.
OnIslam.net reports that the African economic news agency Agence Ecofin wrote that Cruz made the statement at an appearance last week before the 6th Commission of the National Assembly. The website goes on to note that, “According to several Angolan newspapers, Angola has become the first country in the world to ban Islam and Muslims, taking first measures by destroying mosques in the country.”
Even Angola President José Eduardo dos Santos has weighed in on the controversy, as he was quoted in Nigeria’s Osun Defender newspaper on Sunday as saying, “This is the final end of Islamic influence in our country,” according to the OnIslam.net report.
The reported comments by Cruz and Santos echo the stance of the governor of the country’s Luanda province, Bento Francisco Bento, who reportedly maintains “that radical Muslims were not welcome in Angola and that the government was not ready to legalize the presence of mosques in the country,” according to a La Nouvelle Tribune summary of Bento’s take on the issue.
Source: International Business Times
Addis Ethiopia Weblog 