Death and torture - at the hands of Saudi employers

A senior Saudi Prince was recently convicted in a British court of having murdered his servant (aka 'slave') in a London hotel. This was reported extensively in the British media.

However, through the London Muslim blog I have just come across another shocking incident in which a Sri Lankan maid employed by a Saudi family had 24 nails hammered into her hands, feet and forehead, later requiring removal with surgery:



Amnesty International has just condemned Saudi Arabia for abuse of Indonesian migrant workers. See this Amnesty International report, also.

These incidents shock me, but they do not particuarly surprise me. Having said this, I know a few British people who treated domestic servants appallingly, and not so very many years ago either, although in fairness with nothing like the same degree of physical bestiality, rather with what I would characterise as emotional and mental cruelty.

PS/ This evening's Panorama on BBC1 should be interesting - it reports on the curriculum used in certain Islamic schools ('Saturday clubs') in the UK, financed it seems from Saudi Arabia. The Royal Saudi Embassy in London has denied all knowledge; as someone once said in another context - "well they would, wouldn't they".