Thanks to Twitter, MoL closes housemaid ‘slave market’

Hilda Ismaeel A RECRUITMENT company recently put three housemaids on display at a mall in Dhahran as a way of promoting its services to the general public.  It was a disgraceful and humiliating act, and I do not know what made the company dare to do it. Did it think that the authorities and society would approve of such an act and remain silent about it? Did it think that people would not speak out against such acts because they are in dire need of housemaids? The housemaids looked as if they were slaves. Luckily, the general public was filled with abhorrence and criticized this move, which could be honestly described as human trafficking. Social media websites were boiling with rage after they saw the photo of the three poor housemaids standing in the mall. This proves that members of our society care about humanity before anything else. Saudis are humane people, not lazy people who care only about finding housemaids to serve them. Had it not been for social media websites, the Ministry of Labor and Social Development would not have known about these three housemaids. The ministry immediately reacted and asked the company to remove the desk they had set up in the mall and even held the company accountable. I think Twitter played a big role in raising this issue and in bringing the attention of the authorities to it. Some people described the mall as a slave market. However, there were also some people who, unfortunately, supported the company’s act and said there was nothing wrong with displaying the maids in the mall. These people make me feel afraid for the future of the next generation.