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| Sri Lankan Buddhist monks and their supporters march outside the president's residence demanding authorities to stop sending Sri Lankan women as maids to the Middle East following the recent beheading of a Sri Lankan maid by Saudi Arabia, during a protest in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2013. (AP Photo/ Eranga Jayawardena) |
COLOMBO:
Sri Lanka said on Thursday it would bar women of all ages from travelling
abroad to work in menial jobs, following an international outcry over the
beheading of a young nanny in Saudi Arabia.
Information
Minister Keheliya Rambukwella announced that women under 25 were now banned
from going to the Arab state to work as maids, adding that it was the first
step towards a worldwide travel ban for low-paying jobs.
The move
was in response to the execution earlier this month at a prison in Riyadh of
Sri Lankan maid Rizana Nafik, who was only 17 when she was charged with
smothering a four-month-old baby in Saudi Arabia in 2005.
"As a
first step we are raising the age limit to 25. We will gradually move towards a
total ban on our women going abroad to do low-paying jobs," Rambukwella
told reporters.
He did not
say by when the total ban would kick in, but said the authorities have started
to discourage women from going to the Middle East, especially Saudi Arabia
where most maids are paid less than $300 a month.
Nafik was
beheaded after she was found guilty of smothering an infant in her care after
an argument with the child's mother, the Saudi interior ministry has said.
The US and
the United Nations led international condemnation of the Saudi authorities over
the January 9 execution.
Nearly 1.7
million Sri Lankans are employed abroad and the $6 billion they sent home last
year is a key source of foreign exchange for the government.
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